A Simple Hello
by jamtrousers
Summary: Hinata has always loved Naruto and now she has a chance to be closer to him. Will she be able to finally tell him how much she loves him? Will she even get the chance?
1. A Gut Feeling

A Simple Hello

Hinata Hyuga stumbled her way out of her family compound. She was holding her stomach in pain after a sparring session with Neji. She'd been training for weeks nonstop ever since Naruto had come back after his three years abroad.

Although Neji was far better as a fighter compared to Hinata, she was determined to become a better fighter. She'd spar with Neji for hours on end and always ended in pain for Hinata. Little did Neji or anybody aside from Hinata herself that not only was she training to become stronger, but it was also for Naruto. He didn't know it, but she always loved him, and in his absence it only grew for him. He trained with such zeal that Hinata could only be spurred on to improve as well.

Hinata had grown as a person and a woman, but she still couldn't hold a simple conversation with Naruto for the life of her. She was walking out of the compound so that she could go to Sakura for healing and to just talk a little maybe. Although she still resented Sakura for holding Naruto's affections (regardless of if she wanted them), she still figured she could trust Sakura and it was nice to be able to talk to another girl.

As she stumbled out of the compound, she found herself instantly surrounded by a few branch members of the Hyuga clan. They tried to aid Hinata and get her to go back to the compound for assistance, but Neji grabbed them.

"She need to go out for a private conversation as well." Neji said protectively

"But…" One of them tried to protest

"If you don't let her go by herself, you'll just see how _gentle _the Gentle Fist really is." Neji said darkly

The two branch members quickly scooted away from them, and Hinata gave Neji a small smile of thanks. She shambled out and down the road towards Lady Tsunade's office. As she walked, she tried to mask any signs of pain and decided to just walk slowly and carefully. During their last sparring match, Neji accidently hit on of the chakra gates in Hinata's stomach. It wasn't fatal, because he pulled the hit before he completely sliced it, but the pain was immense.

She noticed a few people look at her befuddled by the site of a Hyuga all by herself like so which made Hinata very self-conscious. She was almost all the way to the office, until a flash of orange was in front of her, and she was knocked on her back. She squealed out in pain, because the orange flash had collided with her stomach first.

She looked up and saw Naruto looking at her freaking out slightly.

"Oh my God Hinata! I'm so sorry! I didn't see you, I was trying to get to the Ramen Shop it's half price Ramen day!" Naruto was waving his hands wildly.

Hinata clenched her stomach and struggled out a "Hello…" before she screamed again and passed out from the pain and seeing Naruto.

As the world faded to black, Hinata felt her body be gently picked up. She faintly smelled ramen and sweat with the faintest little bit of something like a fox. It smelled terrible and beautiful at the same time.

Hinata opened her eyes slowly and saw Naruto being chewed out by Sakura in one of the smaller rooms where she must have been taken.

"You idiot!" Sakura shouted at Naruto whose head was hung low in shame. "Do you have any idea how hard you'd hit Hinata!? You ruptured a whole chakra line! It's taken me an hour just to keep her from going into critical condition! You could have killed her!"

She went to whack Naruto on the head, but she saw how ashamed and worried for Hinata he was.

Naruto slowly lifted his head and asked "Will she be okay?"

Sakura sighed and said "Yes Naruto she will be fine."

Naruto looked up and asked "Do you think she'll be hungry?"

Sakura wanted to hit Naruto at first, but realized that Naruto wanted to make Hinata feel a bit better. She smiled and said "Yeah, she'll probably be starving when she wakes up."

"Alright!" Naruto shouted "Hope she likes Ramen!" Naruto was out the door in the blink of an eye and ran towards the Ramen Shop.

Sakura shook her head and turned to Hinata with a wink. Hinata's eyes widened in shock that Sakura knew Hinata was awake during the "conversation" with Naruto.

Hinata sat up and said in her whispery voice "So, I ruptured a chakra line…"

Sakura looked at her and said "Yeah, but he shouldn't have done that it doesn't make much sense."

Hinata blushed and said "That's because of Neji…"

Sakura looked at Hinata with confusion. "Neji?"

"We were training, and he got a little carried away, as did I. He hit me in the stomach and nearly severed the line, so I came here to get treated real quickly. I was training so I could get stronger, and so Naruto might see…" Hinata's face was turning a darker shade of red reminiscent of a beet root.

Sakura smiled and chose not to delve any further into her reasoning.

"So Hinata, what did you say when you 'ran into' Naruto?"

"Oh! Just a simple hello…"

Naruto kicked in the door showing that he came back carrying several bowls of ramen. Naruto looked for Hinata who was now sitting up and smiled a smile of relief.

"Whew… Glad I didn't kill ya!" Naruto walked over with the bowls and looked over to Sakura who was stunned by the fact that Naruto had come over so quickly.

Hinata's face deepened in the reddening and seemed as if she was about to faint again. Naruto saw that and grabbed Hinata shaking her to keep her awake.

"Oh no you don't!" Naruto said comically

That managed to keep Hinata awake, but she still remained red.

Naruto scrambled for a bowl of ramen and shoved it in her face.

"Here eat this!" Naruto looked towards Sakura. "Uh, would you mind leaving for a sec? I need to talk to Hinata in private.

Sakura and Hinata looked shocked at what Naruto had just asked, but Sakura decided to leave.

Naruto sat down in front of Hinata and started to chow down on the ramen. He ate furiously but looked up at her and motioned for her to start eating. She picked up her utensils and started to tentatively eat. It did taste good, and with Naruto's encouragement she enjoyed her meal.

As she finished the meal she noticed that Naruto kept looking up at Hinata as if to see if she was still alright. After they finished, Naruto looked at her in a way that seemed to mix concern and shame.

"Sorry about nearly killing you Hinata." Naruto said

Hinata had a very small smile on her face and said "Oh it's… it's alright. You didn't mean to…"

"Can I make it up to you?" Naruto asked

Hinata felt electricity crawl up her back at the sound of that. "How would you do that?"

Naruto stopped to ponder and suddenly said "How about we go to the hot springs?"

Hinata nearly fainted at the idea, but kept her composure. She was going to see Naruto without his shirt on? That thought had Hinata instantly turn a bright shade of red.

"Bad idea?" Naruto asked?

"No! It sounds nice and relaxing." Hinata assured him

"Cool! What time do you want to go?" Naruto asked

"6 o'clock maybe?"

"Perfect it's a date!" Naruto said with a big smile.

Hinata straightened up like a board at the comment Naruto made. She was speechless. As much as she read into that comment, Naruto had no idea what that could also be taken as. He got up, stretched his back and got the bowls. He walked out and waved his hand at her saying "See you there Hinata!"

Hinata sat there for a second, and after she realized what had just happened did a little happy dance in her head. Then she fainted.


	2. Hot Under the Collar

Hinata awoke to find Sakura looking down at her in an amused manner. Hinata looked around for a second trying to remember what in the world had happened. She'd had the oddest dream that she and Naruto-kun had clashed into each other and after she passed out, she ate ramen with Naruto and agreed to go to the hot springs with him.

"Morning sleepy head." Sakura said with a devious smile.

"W…Was it all just a dream?" Hinata asked Sakura with an urge to push her index fingers together.

"What your stomach and your "date" with Naruto-kun? Nope that all happened and then you fainted." Sakura was smiling at Hinata because if the date went right Naruto would leave Sakura alone. "So how are you going to make him fall for you?"

Hinata looked at her in surprise "Oh! Um… I wasn't sure." Hinata blushed only slightly this time "It was so sudden for him to ask, and I don't think that he sees it as a date…" Hinata looked down sadly.

"Oh no you don't!" Sakura shouted scaring Hinata "If you think I'm going to let this golden opportunity for the two of us then you're dead wrong!"

"What do you mean 'for the two of us'?" Hinata asked timidly

"Listen Hinata, I **don't** want Naruto-kun's affection, and you **DO**." Sakura said pointing her finger at Hinata-chan. She took a few steps towards the door and looked back at Hinata-chan saying "Besides, everyone thinks that you and Naruto-kun would make a cute couple." Sakura winked at Hinata and left the room.

Hinata sat and thought for a second. How was she going to act during the time in the hot springs? She had to talk to somebody that would know how to work with guys that were clueless and a little out there. Somebody who had worked with guys like Naruto for years…

Ino was walking towards the shopping centers when she was pulled by the collar of her shirt into an alley. She was about to beat whoever had grabbed her like that until she saw that it was Hinata

"Hinata-chan!? What was that all about?" Ino asked nonplused

Hinata looked down for a second and back up saying "Oh um, I was wondering Ino-chan if you would mind helping me with something?" Hinata blushed a bit

"With what?" Ino asked "Why not ask Kiba or Shinno?"

"This is more of a question that is for girls rather than teammates…" Hinata's eyes trailed away from Ino-chan in embarrassment.

Ino-chan brightened up at the sound of that and wrapped an arm around Hinata's shoulder and walked her back on to the shopping strip.

"So you need some advice on girl stuff huh? Well Hinata-chan you came to the right girl." Ino-chan couldn't help but feel proud of the fact that Hinata went to her for advice.

"I was wondering if you could help me with Naruto-kun…" Hinata began to blush

Ino-chan said "I had figured as much. So what do you need help with? Being seen? Kissing? Oh no I know what it is! Seduction. Hinata-chan you sly dog."

Hinata-chan started to freak out and shouted "Oh my goodness Ino-chan, no not that!" she was waving her arms and making a bit of a scene with a few people looking at them.

Ino realized what she'd done and put her hands on Hinata shoulders. "Easy there Hinata-chan I was joking." Ino-chan gave her a reassuring smile. "So what is it really?"

"Well Naruto-kun and I are going to go somewhere…" Hinata said nervously

"Really!? Where?" Ino-chan asked excitedly

"The um… The hot springs…" Hinata said flushed

Ino-chan stood there in shock for a second and then said "Seems a bit extreme for a first date huh?"

Hinata face saddened and said "That's why I need to talk to you; he doesn't realize it's a date. He just thought it'd be a nice thing to do…"

Ino-chan looked at Hinata and slapped herself in the forehead. "Man is he thickheaded." She looked at Hinata for a second and gathered her thoughts. "So let me get this straight, you want to make it a date…but not be, too oh how should I put it? Adventurous?"

Hinata shrunk a little bit and nodded her head mumbling "Y-Yes."

Ino grinned a little and put an arm around Hinata shoulder and began to walk down the street. "Alright Hinata-chan, if you really want to date the blonde buffoon; here's what you're gunna do…"

Naruto stood by the entrance to the hot springs looking around for Hinata with his eyes squinted. "Hmmm, it's not like Hinata-chan to be late. I wonder if she got sick and had to leave. Nah, she probably just didn't want to come. Whatever, her loss."

Naruto began to turn around to enter in the hot springs solo when he heard a voice behind him. Right behind him.

"Wait!" Ino screamed about a foot behind Naruto.

"Gah!" Naruto-kun jumped a few feet in the air and turned around. "Ino-chan what are y-you doing here? Did Hinata-chan send you here to tell me she couldn't make it or something?"

Ino-chan smiled and said "No, it's my fault that she's going to be a little late."

"Why is it your fault?"

"Girl stuff."

Naruto looked at Ino for a second and shrugged. "Alright when can I expect her here?"

"NOW!"

Ino and Naruto looked and saw Hinata running towards them. She had different clothes on instead of her under shirt and hoodie, she was wearing a lavender colored qipao. When she got to Ino and Naruto, she panted a bit and looked down in embarrassment.

"Hello Naruto-kun …"

Naruto stared at her for a moment and said "Uh…Hey Hinata-chan. You look…different."

Ino knew what to do and nudged Naruto in the side. "Are you kidding Naruto-kun? She looks gorgeous! I mean look at her, she's beautiful!"

Naruto took a while to process what Ino had said and said "Yeah Ino-chan you're right. Hinata-chan does look amazing."

Hinata looked down in embarrassment, and blushed deep red.

"Th-Thank you Naruto-kun. So are you ready?"

Naruto got his eyes back in his head and said "Yeah but I've got a question…"

"What's that N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata looked at him hopefully.

"Why did you put on that dress? Aren't you just going to take it off anyways?"

The next thing Naruto knew, Ino punched him over the top of the head.

"Why'd you ask something like that you stupid pervert?" Ino shouted

"What do you mean?" Naruto said rubbing his head "We're going to a hot spring."

Ino looked at Naruto realizing what he meant and said "Oh right."

Naruto and Ino looked over to Hinata who had fainted again and Naruto looked confused.

"You think it'd be a good idea for her to get in the water? She doesn't look so good. Maybe we should just call it off and do something else."

Ino looked at Naruto and shouted "No! She was really looking forward to this! Don't worry I'll get her to wake up." Ino picked up Hinata and shook her saying "Hinata-chan wake up!"

After a half dozen shakes Hinata woke up and cognized what was going on.

Hinata mumbled to herself "Just relax Hinata, it'll be fine." She stood up and walked over to Naruto. "Ready?"

Naruto smiled and nodded his head. "Yeah this is going to feel great!" The two of them walked in and waved goodbye to Ino.

Ino smiled as she walked away saying to herself "Go get him Hinata-chan."

"So Naruto-kun do you normally come here?" Hinata asked trying to break the ice.

Naruto grinned a guilty grin and said "Well…Pervy Sage makes me come here all the time for his "research" but that never ends well." Naruto laughed a bit at his sensei's perversion and smiled.

Hinata blushed. "Do you think that he's ever seen me?"

Naruto looked appalled at the very thought of that. "Are you kidding!? If he'd ever done that to one of my friends why I'd! I'd!" Naruto began to shake his fist at nothing and said "Trust me, he hasn't."

They got to the hot springs and separated at the entrances. Hinata felt a little apprehensive about stripping naked with Naruto only a few feet away.

"Oh my, I hope Naruto doesn't see me." Hinata began to blush at the very thought of it and smiled a small smile.

She took off her qipao and put on a towel. She entered the hot spring and relaxed her body down into the hot water. It was very nice of Naruto to take her here, but she didn't like the fact that she couldn't really talk to him. As she looked around, she noticed something peculiar. There were no other girls at the hot spring, for all she saw, she was the only female in the hot springs. Then she noticed a little note by the middle of the division board between the two gender's spring. She looked at the note which read "Have fun Hinata-chan hope you and Naruto have **LOADS **of fun! Signed- Sakura"

Hinata laughed quietly and began to relax when she heard Naruto as he yelled "Hey Hinata-chan!" Hinata squealed and jumped a bit. "Is there anybody on your side?

Hinata took a second to calm down and said "No Naruto-kun, it's just me."

"Alright just checking. Say why don't we get near the border so we can talk?"

Hinata felt apprehensive. Not only would she be talking to Naruto alone, but she'd also be completely nude. And so would he.

"Ok Naruto-kun that sounds alright."

Naruto laughed and said "Heh, alright just don't use your Byakugan."

Hinata's face burned, more than it ever had before than at that moment. She slowly made her way towards the wooden plank separating them and relaxed. She heard Naruto make his way to the edge as well and heard him sigh in relaxation.

After a second Naruto spoke up saying "So what's up Hinata? I haven't seen much of you lately. Neither of us have had any missions lately…"

_Oh nothing, just fawning over you for the past lifetime!_ Hinata thought to herself "Oh I've been training a lot lately. I've been trying to get better with my Byakugan, so I've been training with Neji as much as I can. That's why I hurt my stomach."

"Oh great, I thought I'd nearly killed you when I ran into. So have you improved your jutsu much?"

"Huh?" Hinata seemed a little confused.

"Oh I was just thinking of the time we went to look for the Bikouchu Beetle and you did that Eight Trigrams jutsu. That was really impressive!"

"You really thought so Naruto?" Hinata felt empowered by that compliment.

"Oh yeah! It's so powerful and graceful! I'm not even sure if my Rasengan would be able to penetrate that move." Naruto said with much enthusiasm

That last sentence surprised Hinata. Naruto was usually so confident in his ability to defeat any obstacle in his path.

"Re-Really Naruto-kun? I'm sure that you'd pass through it easily."

Naruto thought for a minute and said "Well eventually, but the thing is that even if I got through it once the way you move your arms like that, you'd probably just zap me by the time I got close to your belly. Seriously Hinata, you're really something." Hinata's stomach was doing backflips at that point. She'd never heard Naruto compliment her like that. "You know, we should get together sometime!"

Hinata nearly squealed at the sound of that. "Wha-What do, you m-mean Naruto-kun?"

"Well you'd be a perfect person for me," Hinata was about to jump with joy "to spar with that is." That brought Hinata back down to Earth fairly quickly. "I mean I rely on my endurance and chakra to attack. But you? You're so fast and flexible. It'd be perfect for the both of us."

Hinata still felt a little disappointed. "Well Naruto-kun that does sound nice and all but…"

Naruto cut in "Awww come on! We'd finally get to see more of each other! Please Hinata! I'll tell you what you do that for me. And I'll do anything you want. ANYTHING!"

Hinata slouched and thought for a second. She really would like the idea of getting to be with Naruto all the time. Plus she'd get to make Naruto do anything she wanted him to do.

_Can't you imagine it? He'd do ANYTHING to train with us… You know what he could do is he could…_ "Shush." Hinata told her darker side

"What was that?" Naruto asked

"Oh nothing Naruto." Hinata assured him "Well it sounds good to me. But you have to promise me something…" Hinata said with joy in her heart.

"What's that."

"Every two times we spar, me and you go and do something fun." Hinata said cheerily. The moment she said it though, she knew it was the most obvious way to ask him to date her on the planet. Naruto sat quietly for a second and then shouted.

"Heck yeah! That sounds perfect! We train and then us friends can blow off some steam together!"

Hinata gave a sigh of relief. As much as she loved Naruto, she was glad that he was a little oblivious about things. The two of them got out of the springs and met up at the front gate.

"Well see you tomorrow Hinata-chan!"

"Yeah see you tomorrow…"

Before Hinata turned to leave, Naruto gave her a big hug of appreciation. After putting her down, Naruto ran off and Hinata stood there dumbfounded. And then she fainted.


	3. Truth's and Promises

As Hinata awoke, she noticed remembered that she'd promised Neji to come home as soon as she felt better. Considering the fact that she just had some of the best news of her life a few moments ago, she felt great and returned home. The sun was beginning to set on the village casting a beautiful orange-golden hue upon everything.

When she reentered the compound, she noticed Neji leaning by a wall as if he'd been waiting ever since she left. As nervous about that as she was, she couldn't help but feel like she was on cloud 9. Not only would she be getting to spend nearly every day with Naruto. She'd get to become stronger which could impress him, and she'd get to just be with him. For all she cared, she might as well have been dating Naruto.

The last thought of Hinata's drew a big smile on her face as she walked by forgetting that Neji was even there. Neji of course noticed the smile on her cousin's face and sighed. As glad as he was that Hinata was able to see Naruto, he didn't like how long she had left. He had worried at first that she may have collapsed on her way to Sakura.

"So Hinata," Neji said having not moved from his lean against the wall "how well did it go with Naruto-kun?" Neji made sure not to grin at the question.

Hinata felt completely at ease and felt no awkwardness or fear when answering. "Oh my Neji-san it was very good! We bumped into each other and had lunch."

"How is your stomach?" Neji asked slightly guiltily

"It's fine thank you." Hinata smiled at him unworried about her previous injury.

"Thank goodness." Neji noticed Hinata's unusual amount of confidence and said "…So Hinata I have a question,"

"Yes Neji-san?"

"Why are you so happy? Surely a bowl of ramen can't be **that** good. And as for that matter, why are you wearing such a dress like that? You certainly weren't wearing it when we were training."

Hinata couldn't help but giggle slightly and said "Oh, well if you must know, Ino made me go shopping with her before I went to go socialize with Naruto. And know he and I are training partners now." Neji's jaw nearly hit the floor at the sound of that "And we're going to start going to do fun things with each other after we go and finish training."

"You're what!?" Neji shouted "So the two of you are dating all of the sudden?"

Hinata couldn't help but smile at the prospect and said "Well, not officially. And Naruto doesn't see it as dating so I guess that we'll just have to see who things go now won't we?"

Neji looked Hinata with concern in his face "Hinata-chan, why are you so much more confident now? Earlier this week, it was hard for you to even speak of yourself in a non-derogatory manner."

Hinata smiled again saying "Well, sometimes it just takes a few words of encouragement from a certain someone to boost my spirit."

"Well that doesn't mean you should be so confident."

Neji and Hinata looked over to the sound of the voice and saw Hinata's father Hiashi Hyuga staring at them.

Hinata quickly diminished herself and said "Oh, well if that's what you believe father…"

Hiashi looked at her daughter sternly and said "Hinata, normally I would punish you for even talking to such trash like that Uzumaki garbage." Hinata looked outraged at her father and was about to protest but he held his hand to silence her. "Considering how powerful he has become regardless of his origins though, I can see why you would want to train with him…"

Hinata looked incredibly relieved and said "Thank you father."

Hiashi's face didn't soften though and told Hinata "But you WILL NOT be dating such riffraff like that Uzumaki child." Hiashi looked at Hinata with what may have been the slightest trace of a small smile on his face. "And make sure that you clean your dress, you may need it the near future." Hiashi didn't wait for Hinata to respond and turned and left.

After a brief silence Neji spoke up. "So Hinata, what are you going to do about Naruto-kun?"

Hinata's face changed to one of resolve and said "If I'm not allowed to be with Naruto that way because of what father says…" Hinata looked over to Neji in the eyes "Then if I have it my way, then I'll be with Naruto without father's knowledge."

Neji seemed absolutely shocked at what Hinata had just said. "Are you sure Hinata?"

"I've never been surer about anything in my life." Hinata said with a mixture of happiness and resolve in her voice.

Hinata quickly left the compound and went into her room. She couldn't wait to sleep through the night so that she could begin the next day as soon as possible. She removed her dress and switched to a small tank-top. Before she flopped down on her bed, her door opened slightly.

Hinata quietly activated her Byakugan and smiled. "Hello Hanabi-Imouto."

Hinata's younger sister was surprised to the fact that Hinata knew it was her. "Hello Hinata." Hanabi didn't feel like Hinata was worthy of an honorific after she disgraced the family the way she did with her weakness.

"So what have I done to be graced by the Hyuga Heir's presence?" Hinata grinned with that.

"I've heard that you are going to train with Naruto Uzumaki. Is it true?" Hanabi raised her eyebrow with that question.

"Yes it is." Hinata said with a smirk "Is it true you'll be taking the graduation test soon and become a genin?"

Hanabi sniffed her nose and said "Yes I am."

Hinata sighed and said "Well you're not ready yet."

Hanabi felt outraged and yelled "And how would a failure like you know?!"

Hinata turned to face her sister after stopping her Byakugan. She walked up to Hanabi and looked her in the eyes. She made note of just the slightest quiver in Hanabi's eyes which were trying to maintain a strong determined demeanor.

Hinata smiled at her younger sister's hot headedness and said "I can tell because I see the same kind of fear in your eyes which used to be in mine when I was your age."

"Afraid am I? Byakugan!" Hanabi shouted turning on her Byakugan. "Am I still afraid?"

Hinata smiled and sighed saying "Yes Hanabi you are. You're afraid to be around someone who is more powerful than you. You are so used to being more powerful than those around you; your classmates, children your age and formerly…me."

"I am not afraid!" Hanabi said cutting the air in front of her. "You are still weaker than me! I don't care if you are a chunnin! You will always be second best!"

Hinata didn't like the tone of Hanabi and her expression turned stern. "Hanabi, you've been training with children and branch members who are afraid to hurt you. You've never been in a situation where you are facing people who don't care if you're all right and you aren't sure if you will be able to walk afterwards. Or if you'll even survive."

Hanabi's eyes were quivering even more at the prospect dying.

"How would you know what it's like?" Hanabi muttered.

"Because I've been out on missions before. I know what it's like out there in the real world. I know what it's like to see someone in their eyes and see a want to kill."

"Well who would have trained you that could make you more powerful like that?" Hanabi cut in "Neji? Since when did he want you dead?"

Hinata's eyes became dangerous. "When we faced off in the chunnin exams three years ago." Hanabi looked at Hinata in shock. "I fought Neji in the preliminaries and lost. But I angered him so much that he didn't just want me beaten. He wanted me dead. And if it weren't for the jonin there, well he just may have…"

There was a silence between the two of them for a moment until Hanabi spoke up. "It still doesn't matter; you're still weaker than me no matter what you say."

Hinata could help but say "Prove it then…"

Hanabi was shocked by Hinata's boldness to outright challenge her. She couldn't help but stay still as Hinata turned around to go back to her bed.

"Good night Hanabi." Hinata said. She waited for an answer of some sort, but heard nothing from her sister. She heard just the slightest creek and instinctually spined around and jabbed her palm.

Hanabi was absolutely shocked to see Hinata jabbing her palm into her shoulder. She looked in her sister's face and saw that she didn't even have her Byakugan activated. Hanabi almost screamed in pain, before Hinata cupped her hand on Hanabi's mouth.

"Never try something so cowardly like that Hanabi. You are the Heir to the Hyuga clan. Act like it." Hinata tossed Hanabi out of her room and sent her to her room. Hinata went to talk to her father about Hanabi, but met him halfway down the hall anyways.

Hiashi had a stern expression on his face showing that his previous kindness to Hinata may have simply been due to her injury. The two of them stopped about two feet from each other and stared at one another.

"Hinata." Her father addressed

"Yes father?" Hinata asked happily

"I've heard that your younger sister tried to provoke you and ended up hurting herself because of it. Is that true?"

Hinata had to suppress a smile as she said "Well yes, she tried to make me seem week even though I'd been training at a much more stringent base, so she needed to be shown that one cannot just rest on their laurels. And I was in too good of a mood to let her ruin it so easily."

Her father looked at her with a stern attitude, but allowed some pride to be seen as well. "Perhaps I had judged too early with removing you from the heir's throne."

"No you did it at the perfect time." Hinata smiled "Had I stayed the heir, I wouldn't be able to marry Naruto."

Hiashi's expression hardened at the sound of it. "What did I tell you about that Uzumaki child? I specifically told you that you are forbidden from being with that boy for any reason other than training."

Hinata's face darkened as she said "Father, I am no longer the heir to the Hyuga clan, and therefore, I can be with and marry whomever I want."

"I'm not telling you who you can and cannot date as a clan leader, I am telling you as your father!"

"I don't care! You will never be able to keep me from being with Naruto. You can shut me in the compound and lock me in this room it won't matter. I will be with him!"

Hiashi smirked at his daughter saying "Really? Because I don't ever remember you actually telling Naruto how you feel about him… Have you?"

Hinata stood there knowing she'd been cornered by her father. "I will." She muttered

"You'll what?" Hiashi demanded

"I will tell him! I will, I don't care if he rejects me, but mark my words, he will know that I love him with every fiber in my being."

Hiashi looked at his daughter and sighed softening his expression. "I suppose that it would be impossible to tell you otherwise." Hiashi began to walk away from Hinata, but turned around to look at her "But if you truly are a Hyuga, then you will not disgrace us with the cowardice of not being able to tell a boy your true feelings." With that Hiashi left Hinata to stand there alone with herself.

Hinata wasn't sure if she had just won the argument with her father, but she didn't lose and that was enough for her Hinata walked back to her room and sighed upon entering it. She looked around her empty room one last time and shut the door.

Hinata sighed at her sister's arrogance and her father's archaic stubborn ways. She went back to her bed and slipped of her shoes. Looking out the window in her room, she saw that the sun had set and the moon was rising. Hinata only then realized just how tired she was from such a busy day. She covered herself in the sheets and let herself drift to sleep.

Hinata looked around her and saw that she was wearing a long flowing dress that was white lightly tinged with lavender like her eyes. She was underneath a Fullmoon Maple tree. Its leaves were a beautiful red as they gently flowed in the breeze. She looked up and saw how the sky was still black, but the moon and the stars were shining like diamonds but looked softer than silk.

Hinata looked around in the beauty as she twirled her body wanting to just wrap herself in the setting. She looked and saw that she was actually on a dirt path and her feet were bare. She looked and saw that road was running along with a gentle river.

Her breathing became longer as she just wanted to breathe the entire world in. It was just so beautiful, so breathtaking, so…

"Romantic."

Hinata turned around and saw Naruto standing behind her on the path with a relaxed expression and his hands in the pockets of a flowing white cloak.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata breathed

Naruto smiled a warm smile at Hinata and said "Hello Hinata-chan. Lovely outside tonight isn't it?"

Hinata looked at Naruto and felt a different around him. He still had that confident demeanor to him, but he seemed so much more mature and at ease. His eyes were the same blue as they'd always been, but they captured Hinata's heart more than ever as he stared into Hinata's eyes searching for her soul.

"It's…stunning." Hinata breathed

Naruto grinned and slowly walked over to her. He walked up to her and put an arm around her shoulder.

"Come on. Let's take a little walk." Naruto said quietly.

Hinata could only nod her head. She felt incredibly nervous around Naruto, but she wasn't blushing or nearly fainting around him this time. Naruto put his arm under Hinata's shoulder and they walked along the path in silence. She felt so comfortable being so close to Naruto, never wanting the walk to end.

As they walked, Naruto spoke up. "It's beautiful here isn't it Hinata-chan?"

"It truly is Naruto-kun." Hinata sighed and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked.

They continued to walk for a short while, until Naruto stopped smiling a bit like Hinata had said a funny joke.

Hinata looked up at Naruto and asked "What's so funny Naruto-kun?"

Naruto chuckled a little and said "It's just, when I said how beautiful it was, you thought I meant where we are…" Hinata looked around trying to figure out what he meant by that. She couldn't tell how this place could be described as anything else but breathtaking. Naruto looked at Hinata's confused expression on her face and chuckled again. "Usually it's me that's the oblivious one." Naruto looked Hinata in her eyes with an expression that seemed like a mixture of adoration, passion, and want. "Hinata when I was talking about something being beautiful, I wasn't talking about the where we are…" Naruto slowly ran one hand softly down Hinata's cheek. "I was talking about how absolutely breathtakingly beautiful you are."

Those words sent shockwaves up and down Hinata's spine. She could only stand still looking at Naruto with eyes wide open and a heart that was humming at this point. She managed to say in a whispery voice "N-Naruto-kun, I-I don't know what to say." Hinata began to tear up from what was happening

Naruto pulled her into a soft gentle hug with her head resting on his shoulder as he whispered into her ear. "Just tell me that you love me."

Hinata's tears began to flow down her cheek, as she tried to gather the strength to say those words. "N-Naruto-kun…" she whispered

"Yes?" he whispered back

Her heart was beating like a drum at this point as she whispered. "Na-Naruto-kun, I-I love you." Naruto squeezed her gently as she said "And I always have loved you…Always."

The two of them stayed still in warm embrace for what seemed like a blissful eternity to Hinata. She couldn't stop the tears streaking down her face, but she didn't care. Slowly Naruto broke the hug to look Hinata into her eyes.

"Hinata-chan…" he whispered. "I love you too."

They slowly brought their faces together into a kiss. The kiss wasn't simple brushing of the lips, but a passionate soft kiss. They had one another in their arms, with Naruto's around Hinata's waist, and hers around his neck. The kiss sent a wave of warmth throughout her body from her head to her toes. The feeling was absolute joy that could only be described as indescribable.

She never wanted their lips to break, but they had to so that she could ask Naruto a very important question.

"Naruto, I have to know," Hinata quivered "is it real?"

"What, our love?" Naruto asked surprised at her "Of course, it's the realest thing I've ever felt."

"No I'm not talking about love…" Hinata looked down afraid of what the answer would be "Is this right here real? Is what's happening real?"

Naruto smiled warmly at her. "It's happening isn't it?"

Hinata didn't feel satisfied by that answer. "That isn't what I asked…"

Naruto's expression became a little sad at Hinata's questions. "Hinata this may not be real **now** but you can **make** it real." Hinata felt depressed at the answer, and Naruto grabbed her in frustration. "Damn it Hinata! I love you! You just need to make me realize it! Do you have any idea how amazing it would feel to know that after so many years of being universally hated someone somewhere actually loved me?" Naruto began to cry as he spoke. "Trust me that I love you… It's just it has to be done at the right time… It needs to be when it's only you and me… if the time is right, I know that I'll figure out that I love you, and that I always will!"

Naruto began to cry on Hinata's shoulder as tears silently slid down her face. Hinata tried to speak but could only whisper. "When I tell you, will you ever let me go?"

Naruto managed to stop crying long enough to tell Hinata "Never will I ever let you go."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Hinata knew that he would keep his promise and laid her head on his shoulder. She wanted to just stay where she was for all eternity, but knew that she would have to wake up eventually…


	4. Wardrobe Malfunctions and Pervs

**Sorry for the delay! School has started and I've been getting writer's block. Before you start this chapter make sure to read this! Alright so I think that I should do some disclaimers here. The timeframe of this story is after Kakashi is bedridden from the battle with Deidara. The story will not continue on as the original Manga goes. I'll still include certain story sections, but the story will be nowhere near as long. (sorry) Still, I hope you enjoy the story!**

Reluctantly Hinata opened her eyes to begin her day. Her dream had been similar to how the others had been, but the dream she had just had, was by far the best in her life. Hinata knew that Naruto told her the truth about him and her. She looked out the window and saw the sun had yet to rise.

Hinata scratched her eyes and mumbled. "Why am I up so early?"

She wanted to flop back onto her pillow and go back to sleep, but she knew it was pointless. She was too happy from her dream for it to be erased with some other dream. She sat up and stretched out with a small yawn. Took off her tank top and slipped on some slippers and a small robe, Hinata made her way to the kitchen. She deftly walked the halls making sure to not wake anybody from their dreams. She made her way to the kitchen and made a bowl of porridge.

She decided to go out to the garden and eat her food. She made her way to the garden and sat down on a bench to watch the morning beauty unfold. She could hear small early birds beginning to sing and serenade one another while the sun slowly raised its head over the horizon. The porridge didn't really taste good or bad, it was more for her to stay awake so early in the morning. She absently ate the porridge while watching the morning unfold until she heard an interesting noise coming from the other end of the compound. It sounded like it was a person.

Hinata put down her porridge and went over to the source of the noise. She walked over to a small meadow inside the compound, and saw it to be her little sister Hinabi. She was training with her kunai by trying to use multiple kunai at once. She seemed to have been attempting to hit a small stick in the ground about thirty yards away from her.

From what Hinata could tell, Hinabi was sweating and breathing heavily. She seemed to have been training for the past few hours. Although Hinata didn't like the insolence Hinabi showed last night, she understood her yearning to improve.

"Hinabi!" Hinata shouted over to her.

Hinabi turned around to Hinata completely surprised by Hinata being awake. She quickly hid her surprise with a show of malice towards her sister. "What is that you want!? Can't you see that I'm busy?"

Hinata smiled and told her sister "It's much easier to accurately hit a target when you maintain absolute balance."

Hinata quickly jumped over to Hinabi landing on one foot and deftly throwing a kunai at the target. The kunai whizzed through the air and sliced into the stick right down the middle.

Hinabi was absolutely dumbfounded by her sister's precision. Hinata looked at her sister with a sly grin on her face, showing that her Byakugan was activated as well.

"We hold the advantage of the Byakugan Hinabi-Imouto. If we can maintain absolute balance, then we will always be able to hit our target." Hinata put her hand on Hinabi's shoulder and looked at her sister with a sense of pride.

Although Hinabi hated to be upstaged by her sister, she couldn't help but feel grateful towards her sister for giving her such solid advice. She gave her sister a quick bow which made Hinata smile.

Hinata turned around and gave Hinabi a small wave telling her she could continue her training which Hinabi immediately did. Hinata smiled at herself as she walked back to finish off her porridge. She felt very excited for the rest of the day, but was surprised when she got back to her spot. The porridge was gone.

"I wonder if Neji-san took it away for me." Hinata said to herself.

Hinata was wondering when an orange and yellow blur dropped right next to her.

"EEP!" Hinata squealed."

In front of her was Naruto in his full gear with a bowl in his hand. He seemed to have taken the liberty of finishing Hinata's bowl of porridge for her.

"Hey Hinata-san. I was waiting for you and then I heard your little sister training and stuff so I came over and saw that the porridge was unattended, so I made sure it didn't get wasted." Naruto proceeded to finish off the porridge with a long drag from the bowl.

"Uh um, how long have you been awake Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked

Naruto looked at the ground and then the sun with a reply of "I dunno… I had a weird dream last night and woke up all of a sudden like and came over here…" Naruto looked off into the distance for a moment then his eyes widened. "I REMEMBER NOW! IT WAS YOU! YOU WERE IN MY DREAM LAST NIGHT!"

Naruto pointed at Hinata with an excited look on his face.

"M-me?" Hinata whispered nervously "Why were you dreaming a-about me?"

Naruto stopped and pondered for a second. "Hmmmm well, I dreamed something weird, we were walking for a second along a dirt path by a river." Hinata's spine stiffened at that. Did Naruto have the same dream? "And then we talked, and we hugged for a second. You were in a really nice looking robe."

Hinata's face was able to keep from turning red, but it still turned a slight shade of pink.

"What happened after that N-Naruto-kun?"

"Well you see that's where things get a little weird." Naruto said crossing his arms with one hand still holding the bowl. "I kind of forget, we either kissed each other, or we may have done something…" Naruto's cheeks couldn't help but blush "…we may have done something a little bit more…intimate…"

Hinata couldn't help but feel a little bit confused. "Do you mean that we…we kissed?" Hinata couldn't help but feel giddy inside at the fact Naruto had the same romantic dream.

"No I mean that I think in my dream the two of us had sex." Naruto said bluntly

And with that Hinata fainted with a nosebleed springing from her nose.

It took Naruto a second to realize what had just happened to Hinata "Um, Hinata? Are you alright?" Naruto bent down and picked her up. "Hinata wake up…" Naruto shook her gently but nothing. He put his face very close to hers and shook her again. "Come on Hinata wake up!" After shaking her a little more vigorously she came to.

"Huh?" Hinata mumbled. She looked forward, and saw Naruto's face only inches away from hers.

Naruto smiled at her and said "You need to make sure to eat before we go out and train."

Hinata wanted to scream and head-but Naruto out of pure fear, but withheld. "I'll make sure to remember that, but you sort of ate my breakfast. And would you mind putting me down?"

Naruto felt bad about eating her breakfast and sheepishly said "Oops! Sorry…" while putting Hinata down. Naruto looked at Hinata for a second and then an idea popped into his head. "Why don't the two of us go grab breakfast real quick?"

Hinata calmed her blush and said "O-Ok that sounds good. Where do you want to get something?"

"I don't know where do you want to go?" Naruto asked sincerely.

"How about we go and get some fruit? And maybe get some lunch after we train."

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto grabbed Hinata by the arm and began to run dragging her. "Come on Hinata! We're burning daylight!"

"But the day has just started!" Hinata said running to make sure she didn't fall on her face.

"Exactly!"

Naruto dragged Hinata all the way to the merchant area where only a few of the shops had opened. There were a few customers already at the shops and they were giving Hinata peculiar looks.

"I wonder what these people are looking at." Naruto said

"I'm not sure." Hinata looked at the people, and when she did they would snicker at her.

She looked over to a mirror and instantly realized what they were laughing at. She clutched her chest which was speeding up to terminal velocity at record pace.

"Naruto!" Hinata screamed

Naruto looked at Hinata befuddled. "What's wrong Hinata-san?"

Hinata's face was burning bright like the sun and her body trembled.

"You took me here to the shops before I had a chance to change." Hinata whispered ashamed "I'm walking around in nothing but my robe…"

Naruto's eyes widened as he processed what Hinata had just said. She looked like she was on the verge of tears in embarrassment.

"Oh." Naruto said looking around at the other people who were around and snickering at her. This made Naruto very angry and he decided to do something about it. "SO YOU THINK THAT'S FUNNY HUH!?" Naruto shouted shaking his fist at everyone. "WELL HOW ABOUT THIS!?" Naruto grabbed his jacket at his chest and pulled. He ripped off his entire jacket and proceeded to do the same thing to his pants leaving him in only his underwear and shoes.

Hinata's eyes began to widen in shock at what Naruto had the gall to do.

"YEAH THAT'S RIGHT KEEP LOOKIN'!" Naruto shouted as the people's looks changed from ones of amusement to ones of absolute shock.

"Naruto-kun…are you alright?" Hinata asked trying to keep her nose from sprouting an absolutely bloody waterfall.

"Yeah I'm alright." Naruto grumbled "I just hate it when people laugh and ridicule others for absolutely no reason." Naruto looked at Hinata and a small smile grew on his face. "Come on before we go and get breakfast let's get some clothes on." Naruto laughed at that and they walked over to the clothing shop.

"Hey! Anybody in here!?" Naruto called to an empty shop "Come on we're half naked and in need of some clothing!"

After Naruto said that, a frail old lady came out with grey hair and a pronounced hunch in her back. She looked at the two of them and smiled an old lady smile revealing her to be missing several teeth.

"Well didn't we have fun last night?" The ancient lady asked with a devilish snicker.

"What does that mean?" Naruto asked obliviously

Hinata blushed and turned to Naruto and whispered "I think she means she thinks we…"

"Oh don't worry you two; a little spirit in the bedroom never hurt anybody too much." The old lady winked at the two of them and snickered a perverted snicker again.

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing from that old lady. "HINATA AND ME DID NOT HAVE SEX! I JUST DRAGGED HER OUT OF HER HOUSE AND I RIPPED MY CLOTHES OFF TO MAKE HER FEEL BETTER!" That only made Hinata faint from the combination of the lady was implying and what Naruto was shouting.

The old lady simply smiled at what Naruto said. "Well if ripping your clothes off makes her feel better, then maybe you two should reconsider your relationship."

Naruto just looked at her angrily and defeated. "Your worse than Pervy-sensei."

The old lady turned around and walked back to the back saying "Now are we casual today or will you need special clothes?"

"Training clothes!" Naruto shouted at her. He was sorely tempted to give her a rude hand gesture but decided not to since she was the one choosing their clothing. Naruto looked over to Hinata and picked her up gently. "Come on Hinata, I know it's embarrassing but you seriously need to wake up."

Hinata was only half conscious and gently grabbed onto Naruto and buried her head into Naruto's well worked chest. She couldn't help but feel amorous in the bottom of her stomach. She knew that she wouldn't have many chances to do this, so she decided to milk every moment she could.

"Hmmm Naruto-kun…" Hinata whispered. "You're so beautiful."

"Hinata-san?"

"Yes my love?"

"I think that you are a little delirious and in serious need of some food."

Hinata realized what she had just said with Naruto and jumped out of her arms and screamed. "I'm sorry! I really do need some food! Sorry about that…" Hinata looked down in shame.

"Eh. It's alright Hinata-san I've said some weird things when I'm in need of food as well." Naruto didn't look too worried about Hinata said, though Hinata thought that he may have been blushing slightly.

The old lady came back out holding several pieces of clothes. "Well it seems that I may have interrupted a romantic moment, but I must say that I find it a little bit inappropriate. Then again, I can't say I'd not do the same thing if I could." The old perverted lady laughed another perverted laugh and threw the clothes at the two of them. "Here you don't have to pay so long as you two little loverbirds can keep your pants on the next time you come into my shop."

"Uhhhh….thanks." Naruto said inspecting his clothes. She had given him a sleeveless blue shirt and black shorts. "Not really my style but I can't say it looks bad." Naruto shrugged and put his clothes on.

Hinata awkwardly stood there looking at her clothes. She had been given red sleeveless shirt that only went down to her belly button and a short black skirt that barely reached her thighs. She looked at the old lady with an expression of disbelief.

"Do you honestly think I should go parading around in this ma'am? It seems a little…revealing."

The old lady looked at Hinata with a mischievous look in her eyes. "Sweetie I think that if you have the kind of lovely figure you are in possession of you'd be able to get away with it." The old lady motioned for Hinata to come a little closer so she could tell her a secret. "And besides," she whispered "I think the more you show the boy, the more he'll want to see." Hinata was dumbfounded "And it's obvious what you want." The old lady winked at Hinata again and sent her to a room to change in.

Hinata felt a little bit awkward putting the clothes on but she couldn't deny that the clothes felt nice and lite which would be great for training in. After she put on the skirt the old lady appeared again. She turned over to Hinata and gave her an evil smile.

"Um thank you for the clothes ma'am." Hinata said awkwardly.

"Oh shut up Hinata-kohai. It's me…" The old lady said. Hinata didn't quite figure out who it was. The old lady rolled her eyes and said "Wow you can be really thick."

The old lady did a series of hand signs and a large puff of smoke appeared. After the smoke cleared it revealed a fully grown woman with brown hair tied back into spikes and a sadistic look in her brown eyes.

Hinata looked at her in absolute fear. "A-Anko…" Hinata stammered "ANKO!" She screamed "WHAT ARE YOU!..."

Anko stopped Hinata from speaking anymore by stuffing her mouth with a sock.

"Shut up kid and let me do this." She did a series of hand signs and slapped Hinata on the forehead. "Time for you to get loose with my confidence-no-jutsu!"

Hinata didn't like the sound of that, but before she could do anything, she fainted again, this time due to the jutsu messing with her brain.


	5. Threats, Lions and Explosions

Naruto was busying himself with changing his clothes when he heard a loud thud in the backroom and a familiar and chillingly excited laugh.

"Oh great this can't be any good…" Naruto muttered to his self.

He dashed over to the source of the noise and found Anko laughing maniacally to herself. Naruto got a kunai ready just in case Anko was having a more spirited day than usual.

"A-Anko-san…why are you here and where is Hinata-san?" Naruto asked Anko tentatively

Anko noticed Naruto keeping a kunai in his hand and laughed again. "Oh kid you've got a great sense of humor! Listen I run this place you dimwit! And as for your frail little girlfriend…"

"She's not my girlfriend!" Naruto growled

"Whatever." Anko said rolling her eyes "Anyways little miss quiet will be waking up soon and she'll be plenty spirited when she does so watch out." Anko flashed Naruto an evil grin that didn't make him feel to confident.

"Um Anko-san can you do me a favor?" Naruto asked

"What would that be?" Anko smirked

"Please leave so I can talk to Hinata-san."

Anko blinked for a second with a surprised expression. She couldn't believe that someone had just told her to outright leave.

Naruto's grip on his kunai tightened as Anko stepped closer to Naruto.

Anko's lips were inches away from Naruto's ear as she whispered "And just why should I do that instead of cutting you open like a fresh fish?"

Naruto's throat gulped in fear at the prospect of what Anko wanted to do.

All of a sudden a very angry and excited Hinata popped out of the room she had passed out in with her Byakugan activated. "Because if you lay one finger on him I'll beat your head in faster than you can say ramen!"

Anko had to put much effort into not flinching at the sight of Hinata. Just like everyone else aside from Naruto, she knew Hinata really liked Naruto. And from the looks of things she didn't mind slicing through Anko to prove it.

Recovering quickly Anko put on a sly grin and looked at Hinata.

"Well aren't we feeling lively?" Anko said with a laugh

Hinata didn't know why but she felt like she could take on the whole world and when she was done with that she'd take Naruto by the shoulder and throw him on the bed and completely ravage his body.

"Yeah we are feeling lively Anko-san!" Hinata shouted "And you won't be alive period if you stay that close to Naruto-kun! Got it?"

There was a very long and very awkward silence as Anko weighed the options of whether or not she should just fight them, or if she could just leave with her body still intact. Both of those options seemed pretty good to her hut eventually...

"Alright kid, I'll go." Anko said with a small grin as she turned away to leave. "Just make sure that you ride him like a bucking bronco later!" And with Hinata shaking in rage and Naruto getting redder by the second Anko disappeared in a big smoke bomb.

Hinata turned around to Naruto with a devilish smile on her face.

"So are we going to spar or what?" Hinata asked in a falsely innocent voice.

Naruto waivered for a second and was about to answer, before he noticed Hinata's chosen attire. She was wearing only a tank top and a VERY short skirt.

Feeling a slight nosebleed Naruto asked Hinata "Um, Hinata? Why are you, *cough* wearing such a revealing outfit?"

Hinata smiled a rather un-Hinata smile at Naruto's face and statement. "Well Anko gave me some clothes and I'm wearing them…" Hinata walked over to Naruto and stroked her finger down Naruto's chest. "What's the matter? Don't you think I look pretty?"

Naruto was too petrified to speak because Hinata did look REALLY good, but it was just so unlike Hinata to do something like that. Hinata seemed to notice that and began to walk away from Naruto and bent over to pick up a shuriken Anko seemed to have left behind her. Bending over, Hinata purposefully gave Naruto a full view of her white cotton briefs.

Hinata smiled to herself as she heard Naruto yell out as HE passed out instead of her with a resounding thump. Turning around Hinata saw Naruto with a glazed over expression on his eyes and a pool of blood cascading out his nose. Hinata grinned and thought of what it would be like to lie down naked next to him but instead she chose to grab Naruto by his sleeveless shirt and shake him.

"Naruto-kun! Wake your ass up! We've got some sparring to do and I didn't put on this gear to go bar hopping!"

After several shakes and a few slaps to the face Naruto managed to regain consciousness. He looked at Hinata who was holding him a few inches above the ground.

Naruto seemed to be fighting the urge to scream in terror, so Hinata did the talking for him. "Alright now that the two of us are both conscious how about we actually get some work done?"

Naruto nodded his head up and down and motioned for Hinata to let him down. Although she wanted to hold him somewhere else she let him go. Naruto dusted himself off and looked down at the ground as he mumbled something to Hinata.

"What was that Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked. Naruto mumbled again so Hinata hit him on the head. "Speak up man!"

Rubbing his head Naruto said "This is just a little unexpected of you Hinata-san. Normally you're really sweet and innocent. But now you seem like Anko-san being so forceful and… outward with your body."

Hinata was struck by that statement. He thought she was sweet? Her stomach was doing backflips regardless of how "forceful" she felt. Trying to ebb something out of Naruto, Hinata pressed a little further.

"So do you not like my body?" Hinata asked in a falsely hurt voice.

"No! That's not what I mean Hinata-san!" Naruto exclaimed "You've taken great care of your body and I know how hard that can be, it's just that you've never been like this."

"Oh well, it's not really my fault, Anko-san did some weird jutsu on me that's making me act this way…" Hinata said rubbing her forehead slightly.

There was a short pause before Naruto's ears perked up and he looked at Hinata with an excited expression. He grabbed her by the arm and they ran out of the store and out through the streets.

"Hey what's the big deal?" Hinata exclaimed.

"Like you've said we need to stop wasting time and go train!" Naruto shouted with enthusiasm.

_Finally_. Hinata thought to herself.

Once they had reached the training ground, they noticed that Shino and Kiba were training against each other with actual taijutsu, which was not Shino's normal forte. Kiba was definitely the aggressor while Shino was trying to not show any emotion but was definitely sweating a bit.

"Come on Shino! Show me some real guts!" Kiba shouted as he nearly clawed at Shino's face.

Shino's glasses flashed as he stepped back from the claw and punched Kiba directly in the jaw just below his right ear. The force of the punch sent Kiba flying back a fifteen yards and nearly into a tree. Getting up to dust himself off Kiba sent Shino a grin of approval.

"Not bad Bug Brains. Now let's see what you can do once you tick me off for nearly wrecking my good looks!"

Shino waivered for a second but stood firm as Kiba began his assault on Shino.

Hinata and Naruto looked on with faces that were definitely impressed.

"I thought Shino never fought with taijutsu?" Naruto asked

"He didn't want to be put in a situation that could be detrimental if his insects didn't work for some reason…" Hinata commented.

"Should we watch or spar?" Naruto asked as Kiba bit Shino's right hand and kicked him in the face knocking him next to a tree as revenge.

"Eh, I train with them normally, and I'd rather do work than watch work…" Hinata said with a shrug.

And with that Hinata activated her Byakugan and whirled around a kick directly in his ribs. Naruto didn't go flying from the kick, but he absolutely doubled over in pain from the kick.

"Argh! What was that for!?" Naruto asked through gritted teeth.

"Always be prepared against your enemy…" Hinata said with a sly grin.

Naruto grinned as well and he did a quick set of hand signs that he could do in his sleep.

Before Hinata a large cloud of smoke popped up and suddenly there was about a half dozen Narutos in front of her. Not surprised at all, Hinata put some chakra in her palms and got ready.

"So you think that you still want to do this Hinata-san? Cuz if you do all six of us are going to come at you full on." Naruto laughed a bit knowing that Hinata was more than ready for a fight.

"Bring it on." Hinata said with a huge grin

With that all six Narutos shrugged and took out a kunai ready to attack. All of a sudden, Hinata was surrounded and blocking as many attacks as she could. Even though her Byakugan was ready, she didn't have enough time to use her trigrams attack and had to defend the old fashioned way.

Even though Naruto had five clones and himself attacking Hinata at once, they were all finding it impossible to land so much as a single blow on Hinata. Her hands weren't landing any blows but they were blocking everything with beautiful timing and elegance. Her arms and hands seemed to dance around all of the Narutos' attempted blows. She was obviously exerting much effort but she seemed to do it so seamlessly that she made it look infinitely easy.

At one single solitary moment Hinata saw her opening and took it. Using a sizeable amount of chakra, she attacked all six of the Narutos and landed devastating open palm blows on five of the six of them. Each of the strikes were aimed just above the right lung and landed with a swift and sickening _crunch_. The sixth Naruto managed to barely avoid the blow and back flipped out the attacking range.

The five defeated Narutos all knelt down in pain and disappeared with a puff of smoke and a _poof_. The real Naruto looked at Hinata impressed but still had a laugh. "Not bad Hinata-san only problem with that was you waivered.

That didn't sit well with her and she demanded "What do you mean I waivered!?"

Naruto chuckled again and said "You knew which one was the real me the whole time, but you still attacked the others first and then me. _Then_ you waivered just long enough for me to avoid the attack and slip away. You still didn't want me to get too hurt, so you backed off your aggression…"

That definitely ticked off Hinata "Oh you want me to be more aggressive?!" Hinata shouted "Fine how 'bout this?!"

Hinata started forcing so much chakra into her hands that there seemed to be small spectral eyes appearing.

"Whoa." Naruto muttered

Hinata hadn't had much of a chance to perfect her technique she was working on, but she wanted to impress/hurt Naruto. With her chakra fully charged into her hands, she had two lions in her palms, and they were blue with flames licking the ends of the jutsu.

Hinata dashed towards Naruto with her hands ready to strike, and Naruto moved into a defensive stance. Naruto tried to block the first attack with his arm, but he thought better of it as Hinata jumped up and down to crash down onto him rather than into.

"Hya!" Hinata shouted as she swung her arm down to attack.

The attack just missed and hit the ground causing a six foot in diameter crater to blast where Naruto had just been.

Hinata's attack was so forceful, that Kiba and Shino abruptly stopped their sparring and Akamaru who had been chasing a butterfly looked over to the source of what felt like a small explosion.

"Hey Shino," Kiba started

"Yes Kiba."

"Hinata nearly blew somebody up with that new move she's been working on didn't she?"

"It seems so…" Shino didn't show it but he was immensely proud of Hinata. And a little bit afraid.

"WOOF!" Akamaru agreed.

Naruto was only five feet away from the crater and his eyes were wide with fear and appreciation. Letting out a low whistle Naruto looked at Hinata who was proud of her handy work but seemed to be drained from using it.

"Note to self: Don't ever piss off Hinata…" Naruto told himself.

Hinata panted for a second as her lions flickered for a second but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

"Come on Naruto-kun! Let's see what your Rasengan can do!" Hinata panted as her knees felt a tidbit wobbly.

Naruto couldn't help but feel slightly cocky at that statement. "Come on Hinata-san! You've gotta be drained after that kind of a strike! Besides I don't think you'd want to face a Rasengan from me…"

Hinata grinned "Oh well if you're too scared to do it I understand…"

Naruto looked shocked as Hinata took a direct shot as his pride. Naruto was trying to save face, so he quickly popped up two clones and had them work to form a good solid Rasengan.

"Are you sure about this Hinata-san?" Naruto asked quirking his eyebrow.

"If you don't use your Rasengan, I'll just blow you away with the attack anyways, so you might as well defend yourself." Hinata said shrugging

With a fully formed Rasengan Naruto looked first at his chakra orb and then to Hinata. He wasn't sure if he liked this Hinata as much as the other or not, but one thing was for sure. She was fun to fight.

"Alright Hinata let's do this." Naruto said leaning back to ready a charge, as did Hinata.

"Hya!"

"Hya!"

The two shinobi charged at each other, as Kiba, Akamaru, and Shino all looked on from a far and safe distance.

"Who's your money on Shino?"

"Hinata-chan. She has two attacks instead of one like Naruto…and you?"

"Eh, I'll take Naruto in a close one…that Rasengan is too much of a power punch. What about you Akamaru?"

"Roof!"

"Really?" Kiba said a little skeptically "I don't think that Hinata or Naruto will get sent flying THAT hard."

"Roof."

"And what makes you say that!?"

"Roof…"

"Whatever… Hey Shino what's up with Hinata?"

"What do you mean Kiba?" Shino asked only half listening.

"Look at her! She's in nothing but a tank top and a barely there skirt!" Kiba exclaimed having just realized what she was wearing.

"Oh…" was about all Shino could say in the slight horror of Hinata's bold choice of clothing.

As Hinata and Naruto converged, Hinata got her second lion ready to attack under Naruto's Rasengan, but Naruto had a surprise. From right behind Naruto popped up a clone and jumped directly into Hinata's second lion to take the brunt of the damage. The force of the clone crashing into Hinata's arm caused her to lose part of her momentum while Naruto came in for a final charge.

"HYA!" Naruto shouted lunging forward at Hinata's body for massive damage.

_I can't let him win that easily!_ Hinata frantically thought. Spinning as quickly as she could, she swung all of her momentum counterclockwise causing her good lion to crash into the Rasengan.

The resulting force felt like a small eruption between them. The lion's head and the Rasengan's chakras connected and for a split second fought for supremacy as the Rasengan swirled and ripped at the lion which seemed to try to envelope the Rasengan and basically bite it.

Hinata's quick spin allowed her to regain some of her momentum she'd lost from getting attacked by the clone, but Naruto was just too strong. His chakra reserves were able to add _barely_ enough extra force for the Rasengan to be the "victor".

Regardless, the sheer force of the explosion of power from the two attacks sent shockwaves and blasted Hinata and Naruto back from each other.

Hinata was sent towards Kiba and Shino who were dumbstruck by what they'd just seen. She flew at the two of them at nearly fifty miles an hour, and Kiba barely had time to freak out and catch Hinata's unconscious body.

"Oof!" Kiba grunted as Hinata hit him directly in the chest. "Ouch." Kiba wheezed as he looked to Shino. "Little help?"

Shino picked up Hinata and laid her down next to a tree.

"Thanks." Kiba muttered as Akamaru picked him up with his teeth.

Naruto on the other hand didn't get to land in somebody's arms, but rather he landed head first into a tree. It didn't knock him out by any stretch of the imagination, but it still hurt like hell.

"Argh! That hurt like hell!" Naruto said rubbing his head.

He slowly stood up and to a gasp of air at how much he hurt. His body felt like he'd just been mauled by a tiger. But then again, he kind of had been…

"Man she's tough." Naruto mumbled to himself as he looked around for her.

He walked/stumbled around looking for them and noticed that the crater Hinata had made was about a third as large as the one they'd made.

"Damn." Naruto said with a chuckle.

Looking forward uphill Naruto saw Shino and Kiba.

"Hey guys, you seen Hinata-san?" Naruto asked rubbing the back of his head.

Shino and Kiba could only stare at Naruto mouths agape from the sheer destruction that Hinata and Naruto created with their attacks.

"Hey guys!? Did you hear me!?" Naruto said waving his hand at them.

Naruto was about to shout at them, but he saw that Hinata was out cold.

"Oh geez Hinata are you alright!?" Naruto shouted waving his hands in worry.

Hinata wasn't completely knocked out, but she still wasn't completely conscious. She could only hear snippets of what was the conversation.

"Amazing!..." _That sounded like Shino._

"Insane…Crazy…Powerful." _Kiba for sure._

"Yeah Hinata-san is pretty amazing…" _Huh Naruto-kun thinks I'm amazing._

"Woof!" _Akamaru?_

5…4…3…2…1…

_NARUTO THINKS I'M AMAZING!_

Hinata's eye snapped open and she jumped out of Shino's arms at her realization of what Naruto had just said. Hinata was only a few inches from Naruto's face, and she seemed to have lost a large amount of the confidence Anko had beaten into her head.

She still felt confident enough to not faint, but her face did become flush. She had just gotten to get very close and very physical with Naruto.

"Hinata-san! Are you alright!?" Naruto asked with worry in his voice.

"I-I'm alright Naruto-kun." Hinata said with an out of breath voice and a bit of trepidation.

That didn't sit right with Naruto. She had just threatened and made fun of Naruto's ability. Now she was back to shy and quiet Hinata.

"Hinata-san… Are you alright? You were just going on about making fun of my Rasengan, and threatened Anko-san… Now you're really quiet and shy again. What happened?"

Kiba, Shino, and Akamaru looked at Hinata in horror upon hearing that she had recently threatened Anko.

"Oh, well… um you see the thing is…" Hinata said quietly pushing her index fingers together "Anko performed a jutsu on me that apparently boosted my confidence or something like that…"

All of the guys looked at Hinata with surprised looks on their faces. They thought that the story sounded a little strange but then again, they were talking about the ever insane and sadistic Anko.

"Well are you feeling alright Hinata-san? We created a nasty explosion. Your moves are really amazing!" Naruto said with pride in his voice. Not only did Hinata have some moves, but it seemed that Naruto's Rasengan was able to win the day.

_Naruto really does think I'm amazing!? Oh Naruto-kun…_

Naruto noticed that Hinata had a dreamy expression on her face and he smiled.

"Come on Hinata-san! We've gotta go!" Naruto said with a good natured smile.

"Why?" Hinata asked

All of a sudden, Hinata's and Naruto's stomachs rumbled to make themselves known.

"Well after you threatened Anko-san we dragged each other to go train, and we sort of forgot to eat breakfast…"

Shino's and Kiba's stomachs growled as well.

"Mind if we join you?" Kiba asked

"Well… I sort of owe Hinata-san breakfast, but if it's alright with her you can."

Hinata never really wanted to make Shino and Kiba to disappear and just have a nice (possibly romantic) breakfast with Naruto.

"(Sigh) Sure we can always have a nice breakfast together." Hinata said with a sad smile

Shino's glasses flashed for a second and he turned to Kiba. "Come Kiba-kun. We will eat elsewhere. Hinata-chan and Naruto-san need to eat by themselves…"

"Why is that Shino-kun? We could get a free meal out of this!" Kiba protested.

Shino looked Kiba in the eyes and Kiba got the idea.

"Well fine but you're buying!" Kiba said hastily with a small sweat drop behind his head.

_Thank you Shino-kun!_ Hinata thought to herself

"Alright see you guys!" Naruto said waving his hand at his departing friends. He turned to Hinata and said "Alright let's go!" And without another word Naruto put Hinata on his shoulders and started to run.

"EEP!" Hinata squeaked like a mouse. "Naruto-kun! My clothes!" Hinata said desperately.

Naruto wouldn't hear it.

"Don't worry Hinata-san I won't look!" Naruto said unworried

"What about everyone else!?"

That made Naruto stop at the end of the training grounds.

"Hinata-san." Naruto began after putting Hinata down and his hand on her shoulder. "If anybody were to ever try anything like that… I'D SHOVE A KUNAI UP THEIR ASS!" Naruto shouted in anger.

Hinata recoiled in shock from Naruto's bold statement.

"Nobody does something terrible like that to the people I care about!" Naruto said with clenched fists.

_Naruto cares about me?_

"Y-You care about me?" Hinata said in a whispery voice that couldn't help but sound excited.

"Of course!" Naruto said like it was obvious. "Outside of Sakura, Kakashi, and Pervy-Sage I care about you the most!"

That made Hinata happy and sad at the same time knowing she was behind Sakura but was still in the top five.

"Thank you Naruto-kun." Hinata said with a resigned smile

"Come on!" Naruto said excitedly and gently grabbed Hinata's hand.

"N-Naruto-kun?" Hinata said in shock.

"What?" He said confused

Hinata could only look at her and Naruto's hand that was being held.

"Oh..." Naruto said unsure of what to make of it. He just shrugged and figured that friends can hold hands. "Well let's get going. I owe you some food that _isn't _ramen!" Naruto said with a chuckle.

He was still holding her hand.

_He's still holding my hand!_

**Alright chapter end! Sorry about that delay. Listen I need someone who can explain the honorifics to me via PM. Much appreciated! Seriously People Review the story I **_**HAVE **_**to get reviews it's the only way I can get this story done right.**


	6. Funny Waiters and Dates

**Alright folks time to bust some skulls! It seems my **_**friend **_**thought it would be funny to leak info about my upcoming story and write some bull about me dumping this story on you… That is total B.S. This story ****will ****be finished by me, and I ****will**** be writing the other story ****after ****this is finished. Don't worry he's been properly punished and I doubt that the baka will try to put junk like that on my profile or stories again. Enjoy!**

As the two of them ran from the training grounds, Hinata couldn't help but think to herself about how things were going on her day with Naruto.

_Oh this is the best day ever! I can't believe that he's still holding my hand! I hope that he feels the same way about our holding hands. I wonder what Naruto-kun is thinking._

All that was going through Naruto's head was this.

_Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. Ramen. _

**Kami you're an idiot.**

Naruto stopped in his tracks at the Kyuubi's remark causing Hinata to nearly run into Naruto.

_What do you mean!? _Naruto thought to himself.

**You baka, you said you wouldn't take your little girlfriend out to Ramen…**

_HINATA-SAN ISN'T MY GIRLFRIEND! _Naruto shouted in his head.

**Whatever… just ask the girl where she wants to eat…Baka**

_Teme. _

Hinata was looking at Naruto with a look of concern on her face. He seemed to have been lost in thought, and he wasn't enjoying it.

"N-Naruto-kun? Are you a-alright?" Hinata asked

Naruto blinked twice and looked at her. "Hm? Oh! Yeah I'm alright, I just remembered something."

"What's did you remember?"

"I remembered that I promised you food that wasn't ramen!" Naruto said with a laugh while putting his hand behind his head. After he laughed he looked at Hinata. "So where do you want to eat?"

Hinata was taken aback that Naruto wanted to eat something aside from ramen. "I-I suppose we could eat something at the new restaurant."

"What's it called?" Naruto asked excitedly

"I think it's called Tsutomu's Nabemono. I hear that people really like it from what I've heard."

"Sounds good to me!" Naruto exclaimed "Where is it?"

"Ano- I think they're just west of the main gate." Hinata said a little excited. She really wanted to try the place out and now she had a chance at go there with her favorite knuckleheaded ninja.

"Alright! Come on let's go!" Naruto tugged Hinata again but this time onto him. Now Naruto was excitedly running through Konoha with Hinata holding onto his shoulders so not to fall off.

Being so close to Naruto, Hinata noticed just how much his training with Jiraiya had paid off. He'd gotten more muscular. A lot more muscular. Unable to stop her nose, Hinata could help but get a small nosebleed

As Naruto ran to the restaurant, the fox decided to voice himself again.

**You know kid you're impressing me.**

_What do you want know? _Naruto thought irritably

**Just a second ago the only thing I could hear in this place was **_**'Ramen ramen ramen…' **_**Now all I'm hearing is basically '**_**Hinata, Hinata, Hinata…"**_

…_Shut up teme. You know I love Sakura…_ Naruto couldn't help but blush a bit which didn't go unnoticed by the equally red Hinata.

**Kid we both know you love Sakura, but these days… Seems more like she's your sister.**

_What's that got to do with Hinata!? Naruto asked frantically_

**Kid… just go with it…**

_Go with what...?_

**Baka…**

_Teme._

As Naruto continued his inner conversation, Hinata spoke up concerned for her favorite blonde ninja. "Um Naruto-kun?"

Naruto snapped back to reality and looked at Hinata after stopping. Naruto put on a nervous smile for her. Great, now he was the nervous one.

Hinata couldn't help but notice how nervous Naruto was getting, and took his hand. Both of them turned several shades of red, but both seemed happy with this great leap forward.

The two of them continued to walk towards the new restaurant which was now only a few blocks away. As they approached the place, it looked nice enough. It seemed a little generic, but what can you expect from a place that was just opening?

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked nervously "There's something I need to ask you."

"What is it Hinata-chan" Naruto asked tilting his head slightly.

"Why do you keep calling me Hinata-**san **or Hinata-**chan**? It's a little confusing."

"Oh, that." Naruto smiled coyly. "It's because I don't know what to call you." Hinata didn't feel hurt by that statement, but it didn't feel great to hear that. "See, we grew up together at school and all, but we hardly ever talked. And even after we became genin, we weren't on the same team so there weren't many chances there either. What I said before my fight with Neji is true Hinata, I really do like people like you, and I care about you a lot. A **whole** lot. It's just… Me and you don't get much time together."

Naruto smiled again and took Hinata by the hand and the two of them walked into the bistro. A waiter with a funny accent and a pencil thin beard and mustache combo walked to them and smiled.

"Ah what can I do for zeese two fine birds?" The Funny Waiter asked with a slight bow.

"Table for two please?" Hinata asked politely.

"Ah! But of course madam!" The waiter seemed to enjoy this part as he walked the two of them to a table with an open booth.

The two of them were seated across from each other and the waiter gave them each a menu.

"So what are you two young birds doing on such a special day as today?" The waiter asked genuinely interested.

"We forgot breakfast and I promised her something aside from ramen…" Naruto couldn't help but rub his head a little embarrassed.

"I see…" The waiter looked at the two of them but decided not to directly ask them of their relationship. "And will ze two of you be going to ze festival tonight?"

"Festival?" both Hinata and Naruto had no idea what this was about.

"What you didn't know?" the waiter asked incredulously "It is ze festival of Summer but of course!"

Naruto thought for a second, and smiled. "Oh yeah that!" Naruto noted the waiter's surprised face and explained. "I've been out of town for a while and have had some stuff on my mind lately so I sort of forgot."

The waiter smiled warmly and nodded his head. "Well why don't the two of you go tonight? It's only for tonight and tomorrow. Besides I don't think zat two neenja's would have enough free time to go out two nights in a row."

"How did you…?" Hinata started

"I don't think zat regular people are allowed to have zose fascinating head bands." The waiter looked at the head band admiringly. Whether it was because they were a good fashion accessory or because he was glad to have shinobi represent him nobody really knew.

"Well now that I've gotten to fraternize, what can I get for the two of you?" The waiter asked

Naruto was about to order his usual ten bowls of ramen when his furry friend spoke up. Again.

**If you order Ramen, I'll figure out some way to bite your balls from the inside out. It smells like ramen in here… and kid… just remember to go with it.**

_WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!?_

**You'll find out…**

Naruto was snapped back to reality as Hinata ordered.

"Do you have any Red Bean Soup sir?" Hinata asked politely

The waiter looked a little uncomfortable for a second. "Well madam unfortunately…"

The waiter didn't get to finish his explanation when he saw Naruto. He wasn't angry at anything, but his eyes were beyond intimidating. They were still the same piercing blue, but there was the most terrifying tint of red at the edge of the eyes that the waiter almost fainted.

"But of course!" he exclaimed desperately "I shall have the chef whip it up immediately! And for you sir?"

Naruto wasn't sure why the waiter got really nervous all of a sudden but hey, Hinata got to have her soup.

After peering over the menu Naruto said "I think I'll have a plate of Chankonabe."

"Very good sir! It'll be right out!"

The waiter dashed away from the table as quickly as possible which left Naruto with a confused look on his face. After hearing the waiter shout at the kitchen staff, Naruto looked over to Hinata.

"Hey Hinata what was that all about?" Naruto asked more than just a little confused.

Hinata looked at Naruto who wasn't afraid of what she'd just seen from Naruto, but rather she felt more concerned for him. She knew about the Kyuubi, after asking Kakashi about it and she could only feel bad for him. She didn't pity him, he didn't need pity but she still felt bad about it.

"N-Naruto-kun… Your eyes were just a little red on the edge. I think it was the… you know…" Hinata felt so bad bringing up such a tense subject with Naruto and it was evident as one with the look on his face.

Naruto grimaced and decided to have a little mental chat.

_What the hell Furball what did you do? I couldn't even feel anything._

The kyubbi chuckled at Naruto. **Well kid I wanted to make sure that your girlfr… your **_**friend**_** was able to get what she wanted, and a little intimidation never hurt anyone. Besides, she's not afraid.**

_What do you mean?_

**Kid look at her. And I don't mean for you to look at her but I want you to actually **_**look **_**at this child.**

_I don't understand what the hell your point…_

Naruto couldn't finish his thought after following the kyuubi's advice. Before, Naruto saw a kind girl who was kind of cute, unconfident, but seemed to have some kind of strength that she drew from. But _**now**_? She seemed stunning. Her features seemed to match her gentle spirit. Her soft skin seemed to be like fine porcelain, her eyes were ponds of lavender and concerned look crossed what could only be described as her angelic face.

Naruto didn't know why, but he felt his gut wrench like his Rasengan. And it hurt.

"H-Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked slowly

"Yes Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked fearful of further hurting Naruto's feelings.

"Thank you. For everything… I know we haven't been able to hang out much, but every moment that I've spent with you for _a long time_ has always ended up being so…_impactful._" Naruto took a deep breath as Hinata had a shocked expression on her face._ "_That's the only way I could describe it. You impact me so much, even when we interact so little."

Hinata couldn't help but think to herself. _Oh Naruto, if only you knew how much you've helped me!... But what if he's lying?_

"Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked

"Yes?"

"How have I impacted you?" she asked fearfully.

The two of them looked at each other for a while before Naruto spoke.

"Hinata-chan…" Naruto took another deep breath as he made sure that he said what he meant to say. "Hinata I know that you and everybody else thinks I'm unobservant and stupid. And to be fair I usually am…" Naruto grinned as he saw Sakura and Ino watching them a few booths over out of the corner of his eye. "But I've always noticed something… You. You never once made fun of me, put me down, or ever tried something negative."

Hinata could feel her heart melting as he spoke. "Hinata when you fought Neji that was one of the bravest things I'd ever seen. It filled me with pride for you as well as admiration. You didn't give up you kept fighting, and you didn't let his insults take you down. Then after you finally recovered for that bastard… Sorry still a little sore about that one…" Naruto knew Neji and Hinata were fine, but that didn't mean he forgot what he did to her. "Anyways after what he did to you happened, you still recovered and you went to talk to me and bring me up **again** when I needed it ever since then… I don't know Hinata… things got crazy with Gaara, then Sasuke, the Akatsuki and then I left and I never got to just settle down and talk with everybody..." Naruto could only look away from Hinata and sigh.

Hinata seemed to be on the verge of tears as was the waiter.

The waiter shakily handed them their plates saying "H-here you go madam and monsieur. I-I 'ope you can enjoy y-your meal. And don't worry n-no charge!" The waiter couldn't take it and ran to the back crying his eyes out.

Hinata ignored her plate of food and took Naruto's hand that was on the able with both of hers. She gave it a light squeeze of reassurance.

"N-Naruto-kun thank you."

Naruto was confused again at Hinata's statement.

"For what? You're the one who impacted me."

_If only you knew Naruto-kun, If only you knew…_

"Naruto-kun, thank you for _letting_ me impact you. It's nice to know I've been able to accomplish something in my life.

Sakura and Ino both silently fawned over how cute the two of them were. The waiter came back to them and took their orders while Naruto looked Hinata in the eyes.

Naruto smiled warmly and told Hinata "Well I guess we'll call it even."

The two of them ate their lunch in a comfortable silence, with the both of them knowing that they were being watched by about a dozen shinobi, waiters and everyday patrons.

After finishing Naruto went and personally thanked the waiter who could only give Naruto a comical hug of appreciation.

The two of them walked out of the bistro and Naruto held Hinata's hand again.

_He's holding my hand again!_

_I'm holding her hand again!_

**He's just going with it…**

"H-Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked nervously

"Yes?"

"About what the waiter said… about the festival…"

"Yes?" _He's not._

"I was thinking about going, and was wondering…"

"Yes?" _He wouldn't._

"Would- Would you want to go to the festival with me?" Naruto finally forced out as The Waiter, Ino, and Sakura all watched from the door.

_He did it…_ "…Naruto-kun?"

_Oh kami she's going to think I'm a freak! Bad idea bad idea!_

**Just shut up and answer the girl.**

"Yes Hinata-chan?"

"I'd love to go to the festival with you." Hinata felt a warm sensation sweep through her body as she processed what was happening.

"Yes!" Ino, Sakura, and The Waiter hissed from behind the door.

Naruto didn't notice them though; his focus was only on Hinata.

"Alright! Awesome!" Hinata couldn't stop Naruto from hugging her as he continued "I'll see you at the festival by Ichiraku's alright?" Naruto put down Hinata and did something that shocked everybody including him.'

He kissed her on the cheek.

The following is the collective thought of Hinata, Naruto, Kyuubi, The Waiter, Ino, and Sakura. "Did that just happen?"

And with that Naruto ran off and Hinata did as well in the other direction.


	7. Preparations and Feelings

**Sorry about the extended delay. My computer broke and we started a large amount of work at school. Well without any further delay... Chapta 7! :D**

Hinata ran off in the other direction trying to keep her blood flow going so that she didn't collapse on the spot. What Naruto had just done to her was by far the best thing that had ever happened to her in her life. Not only did she get to have a legitimate conversation with him, train, and have lunch with her… but he also asked her out to the festival. And kissed her.

She stopped for a second on one of the rooftops.

_And he kissed me._

"Naruto-kun kissed me on the cheek." Hinata whispered to herself with a hand over her heart. Slowly she brought up her hand to her cheek where he had kissed her. Her face grew pink at the very thought of it. Hinata was beginning to feel dizzy until someone grabbed her shoulder.

Reacting on instinct Hinata swatted the hand away from her and spun around entering her Gentle Fist stance. Turning around she saw that it was Ino and Sakura who'd been following her. Ino looked exasperated as she held onto her now broken hand.

Sakura was already healing it, but that didn't stop Hinata from fretting.

"Ino-chan!" Hinata shouted "I-I'm so sorry! You just surprised me and…" Hinata was about to continue her profuse apologizing, but stopped at the look on Ino's face

She was smiling and holding onto her hand. The hand was actually mended, and Sakura was looking rather proud of herself.

"It's alright Hinata-chan." Ino said with a genuine smile "Accidents happen."

Sakura was nodding her head. "Yep, kind of like how we accidently ended up seeing you and Naruto at the restaurant. And…"

"Shut it Forehead! She wasn't supposed to know!" Ino shouted shaking her recently fixed hand

"Oh yeah!? Well you're the one who just HAD to stop Hinata and get your hand broke! Ino-pig!"

"Forehead!"

"Pig!"

"Um excuse me?" Hinata asked quietly

The two girls looked over to Hinata like they'd forgotten she was even there. It had looked like Ino and Sakura were about to blow through about half of the town just to settle the argument that had yet to actually come to fruition.

"Hinata-chan!" Ino yelled to Hinata

"W-What?" Hinata wasn't feeling too good about this.

"How did you do it?" Sakura asked

Hinata stared blankly at them. "How did I do what?"

"How did you get Naruto-kun on a date?" Ino finished for Sakura. "Kiba and Shino-kun say that you two were training with each other this morning, you just had lunch with him and have a date tonight, and what was it that I heard about the two of you walking the streets unclothed?"

Hinata's face burned at the reminder of the early morning.

"Nothing happened." Hinata muttered

"Oh then what _didn't_ happen?" Sakura teased.

"Nothing!" Hinata pleaded "Naruto just got excited to train and dragged me out of the house without noticing that I hadn't changed yet! Nothing else like that happened I swear!"

Ino and Sakura looked at each other and seemed convinced.

"Yeah that sounds like something Naruto-kun would do…" Ino said in an offhanded way.

"So what are you going to wear to the festival Hinata-chan?" Sakura

_Man do they have to double team me like this?_ "Well, I was thinking about wearing my new jacket but…" Hinata stopped as she saw the look on Ino and Sakura's face. "What?"

Ino sighed "Hinata-chan I have a question to ask you. Do you know what kind of body you have?"

Hinata didn't like that. If there was one thing she was most self-conscious about it was her body. "W-Well Naruto-kun said I take good care just trying to be nice…"

Sakura and Ino both did a facepalm at that.

"Hinata-chan; Sakura-chan and I may bicker about who looks better, but trust us when we say this. You do have a good body." Ino said frankly

"It's true; I mean you may not have my great hair." Sakura said jokingly

"Or my sexy personality." Ino chimed in

"But you've got better skin than Ino-chan."

"And you're DEFINITELY not flat like an ironing board like Sakura-chan so you don't have to…"

Ino and Sakura gave each other very evil looks as if they had just heard the offhanded comments they had made towards one another. There was a certain killer intent coming off of each other, but Hinata was starting to get annoyed by the two of them.

"Um guys?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY CHEST INO-PIG!?"

"I SHOULD ASK YOU THE SAME THING FOREHEAD!"

"Would you two just calm down already!?" Hinata angrily said.

Ino and Sakura were about to tear into each other but quickly stopped at Hinata's outburst.

"Oh, sorry. So anyways Hinata-chan, you can't wear something silly like a jacket. It's a DATE Hinata-chan. You need to wear something that you could only **dream** of."

Hinata was about to say something against that idea, but she got an idea of her own in her head. Slowly she smiled softly and giggled a bit.

"Alright thanks for the advice guys, I need to get going." Hinata spun around and jumped down to the streets and began running down the road.

"Wait where are you going Hinata-chan?" Sakura called out.

"To go find Anko-sama!" Hinata shouted.

"Why would she want to go find Anko-sama?" Sakura wondered.

"Dunno. Come on Sakura-chan we need to go find our dates." Ino said turning around. "And make sure that Naruto-kun doesn't do anything stupid when he gets ready."

Sakura went to catch up with Ino. "Why me?"

"Would you rather he tries something like this by himself?"

"…Good point. I'll see ya latter Ino-chan." Sakura jumped away from the roof

Meanwhile Hinata was whizzing through the village towards Anko at a breakneck pace. She knew that Ino didn't know how powerful what she said was, but Hinata knew that it was a sign. And it was a sign that had to be taken.

"I just know that Anko-sama will help me out." Hinata said to herself. "She owes me."

Anko was busying herself with her fake old lady act with a _very important customer_.

"Thank you ma'am." A man said handing Anko some money. "And thanks for the discrete box."

Anko gave the man a devilish wink. "No problem sonny I'm sure this Anko girl will just _love _that lingerie. And here's this for free…"

Anko handed him the box of sultry clothing and a smaller black box.

"What's in it?" The man asked

"Take a peak…" Anko said innocently

The man curiously peered into the box. Upon seeing a large feather, some lace ribbon and whipped cream the man snapped the box shut.

"I-I-I don't know what to say…" The man stammered

"Don't worry sonny, she ordered it last week and forgot to pick it up." Anko gave him a good natured smile and started pushing him out the door. "Have a good night Iruka-san."

The terrified sensei could only nod his head as he was pushed out of the door.

Hinata was too distracted to notice that her former sensei Iruka was walking away from the store blushing redder than even she had ever managed. She saw the "kind old lady" and walked up to her.

"Excuse me Anko-sama?" Hinata asked just a little nervously.

The disguised Anko turned to see Hinata and grinned.

"Ah what can I do for you my little girl?"

"Ano- Anko-sama? I really don't have time for this. Can you help me out with finding a dress? I have a date tonight with Naruto-kun." Hinata couldn't help but blush at that statement.

Anko simply smiled and poofed back to her normal sadistic self.

"So how'd my little booster help?" Anko asked clapping her hands together.

"Well aside from the fact that I nearly died of embarrassment, nearly got killed again, and terrified the man I love… It was great!" Hinata couldn't help but smile.

Anko relaxed at the sound of that. Although she'd never admit it, the idea of an angry Hinata directing her aggression towards her didn't exactly fill her with joy.

"So what did you have in mind kid?" Anko asked

"Well here's the thing, the idea came to me in a dream and…" Hinata was about to continue but was cut off by Anko.

"Ha! I knew you'd take the seductive path! It's always the quiet ones… Anyways let me guess, you want…" Anko rummaged through a pile behind the counter. "This!"

Anko pulled out a one piece lace outfit. It would only cover small amounts of Hinata's breasts and her…womanhood. Hinata could only stare at it in horror. (And also in fascination)

"And then you'll want to have him drooling while you wear this!"

Anko furthered poor Hinata's horror by pulling out a black velvet dress that cut deeply into a "V" down the front and had almost no fabric down the back.

"And also if things go well enough; later tonight you can use this!" Anko was about to pull out a rather "adult" product but was cut off by Hinata.

"Please don't Anko-sama! I need a dress that's beautiful, not seductive. I want Naruto to _love _me not _lust _after me." Hinata had her hands near her face.

Anko was about to make a snide comment but she saw the look in Hinata's face. She really wanted to make an impression. With a defeated sigh and a good natured smile, Anko put down the adult products and looked at Hinata.

"Alright kid I get it. So what did you have in mind?"

Hinata was able to relax and smiled in relief. "Well the idea was that I wear something formal but beautiful…"

**MEANWHILE AT NARUTO'S APARTMENT-**

Naruto was busying himself with trying to clean his room.

_Why am I cleaning my room? Don't I have a date?_

**That's why you're cleaning it baka. You're trying to find something nice to actually wear to the date…**

_Oh yeah… But all I have are jumpsuits and T-shirts._

…

Shrugging at the Kyuubi's silence, Naruto continued in his cleaning of his apartment. Picking up a shirt here a few dozen bowls there, and before he knew it, Naruto was able to have a respectably clean house. Standing proudly, Naruto's ears perked at the sound of someone knocking at his door.

"Wonder who that could be." Naruto muttered to himself

Naruto strode over to the door and opened it. His face twisted into a genuine smile at the sight of his teammate Sakura.

"Hey Sakura-chan! How's it going?"

Sakura smiled a small smile to Naruto and walked into the apartment. She was instantly taken aback by how clean it was.

"Na-Naruto-kun!" Sakura gasped "What happened to your apartment?! It's… Clean!"

Rubbing the back of his head Naruto grinned proudly. "Yeah I sorta cleaned it up before you got here. Wasn't expecting company though…"

Turning to Naruto and quirking an eyebrow Sakura asked "Then why clean it?"

"I needed to find something nice to wear for my date tonight."

"And…?"

Naruto felt a little sheepish saying "I actually only have jumpsuits and shirts apparently."

"…"

Feeling a large amount of killer intent bubble from Sakura, Naruto stepped back a few steps for his own safety.

**Think of something quick baka! I really don't feel like healing your sorry ass from her attacks. Again.**

_Alright. Um. Um…_

"S-Sakura-chan?" Naruto stammered as her hands began to glow. "W-would you want to help me?"

"Oh I'll help you baka!" Sakura shouted as she prepared to charge.

"Please help me find a wardrobe!" Naruto begged "I don't want to look like an idiot in front of Hinata."

Right before Sakura cocked back her fist, she withheld.

Blinking to make sure she was seeing the actual Naruto Sakura asked "Really?"

Naruto nodded his head. "Yes! I don't want to look like even more of an idiot than I already do! Please Sakura-chan, I'm begging you. Help me!"

Sakura stood there for a moment and sighed. "Alright baka, let's get you looking sharp for your date."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Thanks Sakura-chan. You're the best."

"I know I am." Sakura laughed.

**And viola! Next chapter should come out as soon as I can get it done.**


	8. The Date: Part I

**Hey guys! Sorry for the delay! School and all... This chapter is a little short, but I hope it's good one!**

Naruto stood at the gate of the Hyuga compound waiting for his date.

His date.

_My date! Oh kami, what am I going to do!? Oh kami! Oh kami!_

**Would you shut up! Relax you stupid baka! For kami's sake it's just a date!**

Naruto didn't have time for the fox's opinions right now.

_Listen teme, I don't have time for your crap opinions right now! I have a date and no idea what to do!_

Naruto took the fox's silence as a good sign, and continued to pace about in front of the compound, racking his brains trying to figure out how the night should go. He had gotten a suit for such an occasion, and he wasn't afraid to say that he looked damned fine. Black dress shirt with a red tie and he even styled his hair a bit so that it looked somewhat presentable. He even brought Hinata flowers!

Ino was nice enough to give him a whole bouquet of ambrosia flowers. They were a faint purple, just like Hinata's beautiful eyes. Naruto knew that she'd love the flowers, and that was able to get him to walk all the way to the compound entrance without wetting himself.

That still didn't change the fact that he had no idea about what to do at the moment. He knew that they'd be going to the festival. He knew that they'd have a good time. What he DIDN'T know, was how they were going to have a good time! Unsure of what to do, Naruto merely started to rip his hair out of his head in frustration.

"Arrrgh!" Naruto shouted "Why do these things have to be so darned difficult!"

Naruto continued to pace about when Neji opened the compound door and watched the blonde buffoon with an amused expression on his face.

"Excuse me Naruto-san," Neji cut in after Naruto started to bang his head on the compound walls "but I do believe you're supposed to ask if you can come in _before_ you make an idiot of yourself in front of your date's family."

Naruto looked over to Neji and his eyes bugged out.

"Neji-san!" Naruto shouted "What uh, what are you doing here?"

"… I live here Naruto-san…"

Naruto looked at Neji nervously, and smiled putting his hand behind his head. "Oh yeah! Kinda forgot, nervous and all…"

Neji sighed and beckoned for Naruto to come in. Naruto straightened up and stiffly followed Neji into the compound. Neji was quick to notice just how nervous Naruto was, and could tell his heart was racing even without the Byakugan. Deciding to have a little fun, Neji started some conversation.

"So… Naruto-san," Neji started keeping his eyes forward to keep Naruto from seeing his malevolent grin "what's with the sudden interest in Hinata-chan?"

Naruto had figured that he'd face an interrogation from Hinata's father, but Neji!? He had to think quickly.

"… Training?"

"Training?" Neji asked perplexedly

"Yeah, I uh, trained with Hinata-chan yesterday and we had lunch and it was really fun, so I asked her if she wanted to go out sometime."

Neji decided to try the "Big Brother" angle. "Oh, so you aren't really interested in her?" Neji asked in a (mostly) faux-intimidating manner. "You just want to use her to become a better ninja?"

Naruto started to panic. "NO! That's just what I'm usually up to, and well I told her we'd hang out the day before THAT after I took her to the bath houses…."

_Crap…_

This time Neji didn't need to try on the "Angry at a perve Big Brother" angle. "YOU WHAT!?" Neji yelled at Naruto turning on a dime and crouching as if about to enter the Jyuuken stance.

"It's not what you think!" Naruto begged "I ran literally ran into her and she was busted up already for some reason, and I thought she could use a little relaxation. THAT'S IT!"

Naruto was about to get on his hands and knees to make Neji understand, but once he saw that Neji's nostrils had stopped flaring, he was in the clear. For now.

With a still slightly twitching eyebrow Neji looked to Naruto and told him "Fine, but if I hear you lay so much as a FINGER on her… You'll learn what a Jyuuken strike to the groin feels like… Got it?"

Grabbing his crotch in fear, Naruto nodded his head eagerly with a smile. "I got it."

Smirking Neji continued to lead Naruto to the main section of the Hyuga compound.

As they walked Naruto kept trying to keep himself calm. _Alright Naruto don't worry! All you've got to do is not insult Lord Hyuga! The touchiest guy you've ever met… who already seems to hate you… Crap._

"Hey N-Neji-san. I've got a question."

Glancing back Neji looked back at Naruto. "What is it?"

"How does Lord Hyuga feel about someone dating their daughter?"

"… Let's just say… My threats don't hold much water compared to how protective he can be when it comes to his daughters and boys." Naruto gulped at that "He may be very strict about their training, but if there's one thing he's like when it comes to stereotypes, it's the overprotective father."

All of a sudden Neji turned around and looked Naruto in the eyes.

"Naruto-san, I'm telling you this as a friend. Don't take advantage of Hinata. If Lord Hiashi catches wind of you even TRYING something like that…" Neji shuddered for a moment "A castration from his katana would be the **least** of your worries."

There was a long silence as Naruto contemplated the danger he and his "little foxes" were in.

_I should just leave now and count my blessings._ Naruto thought in defeat.

**NO! You cannot do that! **Naruto had to do a mental double take when he heard that from the fox. **Do not let your cowardly fear overtake you! If you are afraid to even go on a date with the girl, how are you going to ever copulate?!**

… _Always has to be about sex with you doesn't it?_

**Listen you little baka! This girl could actually mean something to you, so I suggest you grow a pair to be actually sliced before you fear about them being in any danger!**

_...Thanks Fox. That's what I probably needed to hear._

**No problem kid. Now go get some!**

Choosing to ignore the last comment, Naruto snapped back to reality and found himself at the door of the Main Hyuga House. Neji opened the door and beckoned for Naruto to enter first.

Straightening his tie, Naruto straightened his back and kept his posture up. He knew that he could do this. He was Naruto F***ing Uzumaki! He walked confidently but not cockily into the room. He looked over and saw a miniature Hinata standing in the center of the room. She was a dead ringer for Hinata, except for the sheet of hair that flowed to her elbows, and her eyes. Hinata's eyes looked at you softly without a bit of aggression to found in her eyes. This young girl's eyes were piercing and cold.

"Hello Naruto-san." The young girl spoke. She looked at Naruto in an innocently curious manner, but Naruto could FEEL the cold calculation under the surface of her gaze. For some reason, she was more terrifying to just be around than Neji's threats were.

"H-Hello." Naruto stuttered "You must be Hinata-chan's little sister Hanabi. Right?"

Noticing the slight tremble in his stance, and the flowers that he undoubtedly had for Hinata, Hanabi relaxed a bit. She was going to have a bit of fun with him before she called for Hinata and her father.

Smiling Hanabi answered "Why yes I am Naruto-kun it's very nice to make your acquaintance. Hinata's always had the nicest things to say about you!"

"Really?" Naruto said in relief "That's nice to know."

Hanabi smiled brightly and looked at the flowers again.

"Ooh! Are those for Hinata-neechan? She'll absolutely LOVE these!" Thinking quickly Hanabi came up with an evil thought "I didn't know you felt so strongly about her!"

"W-What do you mean?" Naruto asked with trepidation

"In our family a bouquet of ambrosia flowers are a proposal of marriage!"

"Say WHAAAAT!?" Naruto shouted

Hanabi couldn't help but giggle. This Naruto was a little gullible, but he also seemed to be nice enough. AND he was cute too. "Don't worry Naruto-kun, I was just kidding! You don't have to worry about a wedding. _Yet_ that is."

Seeing that Hanabi was just having a bit of fun, Naruto eased up. "Gee Hanabi-san, you really got me there. I never knew humor ran in the Hyuga family." Naruto scratched the back of his head while smiling at Hanabi. "You've got potential to be a great prankster."

Hanabi blushed a bit and stuck her tongue out at Naruto slightly. "Thanks but no thanks. I'll stick to being a great ninja."

Naruto grinned "Who says you can't be both? Look at me! I'm the best prankster Konoha has ever seen, AND I'm one of the best ninja! Take my advice Hanabi-san! There's no problem with having a little fun in between your training. Otherwise you'd snap!"

Naruto put his left hand on Hanabi's head and smiled, while Hanabi simply blushed.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to have a little fun once in a while." Hanabi mumbled under her blush.

"Alright! So, where's Lord Hiashi and Hinata?" Naruto asked removing his hand from Hanabi's head.

"If you must know," a commanding voice said from the hallway "I happen to be right here." Standing in front on Naruto with a look of absolute authority, was the leader of the Hyuga clan. The Master of Gentle Fist, The patriarch of one of the most powerful clans in all of Konoha. The father of his date.

Lord Hiashi Hyuga.

**I'd write more for the chapter, but this was too good of a cliff-hanger to pass up.**

**I hate to do a shameless plug, but I'm trying something new, and I want you guys to see it. I'm doing a series of Let's Plays under the name *you guessed it* Jamtrousers on Youtube. Check it out if you feel like it. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY! Please read and review! I'll have the next chapter out as soon as I can.**


	9. The Date: Part II The Talk With Daddy

Hiashi strode towards the main foyer of the house, while his daughter Hinata walked along with him. Hiashi was conflicted of everything that was happening. Obviously he was glad to see that Hinata was able to socialize with others, and he was even happy there was a boy she actually liked. That was all fine; the part that wasn't so fine was the boy she was going out on a date with. Naruto Uzumaki.

To say that he didn't have a very high opinion of the boy would be an understatement. It wasn't that he hated the boy; he just didn't really like him. He obviously knew about the Kyuubi, but he knew the difference between the jailor and the convict. He also knew that the boy was getting incredibly strong and becoming a very adept ninja. The parts of him that he didn't like was the fact that he was loud, intrusive, brash, annoying, a little stupid, disrespectful, a possible pervert, and above all he was completely oblivious to his daughter's affection for the better part of 15 years… But, he also knew that Naruto was loyal, kind, and only wanted the best for the people he cared about.

Sighing slightly Hiashi looked over to his daughter. She seemed to be twice as nervous as he (unknowingly) was. His daughter was beautifully dressed. Somehow she had acquired a kimono unlike any he'd ever seen. It was in white silk except for floral prints that were a light lavender color like all Hyuga's. She'd even put on a comb in the back of her hair with a silver lining. She looked great.

_My daughter does look beautiful._ Hiashi thought to himself. _But if that Naruto even __tries__ to remove so much as a single thread of silk from her garb, I will see to it that he learn why I earned the moniker of "The White Eyed Demon" while in the academy._

Hiashi looked over to his daughter again and stopped about a dozen paces from the door.

"So Hinata," Hiashi said in an even tone, "how are you feeling about the date you have tonight? Nervous at all?"

Hinata looked to her father anxiously and began to speak. "A- A little nervous father. I- I've never been on an actual date, so I don't know what's supposed to happen on it."

"Well I will make one thing clear on what WILL NOT happen." Hiashi said gaining an evil glare to his eyes. "There will in no way, shape, or form be anything what so ever of the sexual nature. UNDERSTAND!?"

Hiashi's last words nearly knocked Hinata to the floor. Her eyes widened in horror at her father's statement. "F-Father!? I-I, What are you thinking!? What the hell!?" Hinata shouted

Hiashi was taken aback by Hinata's sudden outburst.

"FATHER! I may be a teenager, and I may be extremely attracted to Naruto-kun, but it's a first date for Kami's sake! What do you think I am? Some cheap teenage skank?"

Hinata actually felt insulted by her father's questioning. Hiashi on the other hand was still shocked at Hinata's sudden outburst like that.

"Hinata! How dare you say something like that?" Hiashi demanded

"How dare you even insinuate I would do something like… like THAT!" Hinata stomped her foot on the ground and stared angrily at Hiashi. Hiashi could only let a single sigh escape before he continued his lecture.

"Understand me Hinata. I'm saying this because I'm just worried. You're becoming a woman, and Naruto is becoming a man. And men and women have sex. That's all there is to it." Hiashi looked at Hinata as a father rather than a patriarch. Hinata was getting a weak feeling in her stomach at the thoughts of having sex with Naruto, and also that her father knew her more well than she thought that he did.

Hiashi noticed that Hinata's face was turning a dangerous shade of red. (As was his)

"Hinata! If you two even _try_ something like that. So help me kami!" Hiashi almost started shouting but didn't want to alert Naruto and Hanabi in the other room. Hanabi had a job to do, as did he. Calming himself down a bit he resumed. "If I find out that anything of any sexual nature was done during your date. I will do the following to Naruto…"

**Hi there everybody Jamtrousers here! **:D **So, due to the fact that this story is rated T for teens, I can't tell you the horrid and gruesome details of the slow and painful torture that Naruto would face. That… and I know that some of you anime fans here have seen some F*cked up S*it but trust me when I say… It's a thousand times worse. For the female readers, go ask your fathers what would happen. And for the guys, imagine if you had a daughter and some guy did the dirty with her… There you go… That bad… Back to the story!**

Hinata stood there trembling at her father's feet. Her face had grown even paler and her eyes were wide in horror that she couldn't fully comprehend. The things that her father had just described in vivid detail were horrifying and stomach turning. It was… _evil_ what he had just described.

"F-Father please, I don't want to do that with Naruto just yet." Hinata said begging him to understand. "I won't deny that I am very much attracted to Naruto, and that the thought hasn't escaped my mind. But please understand that I have enough discipline and self-control over myself to keep my hormonal wants under wraps. A relationship with Naruto is something that I've wanted for so long! I can't just let something like sex get in the way of a meaningful relationship."

Hiashi looked at Hinata in an unconvinced manner.

"Father, I don't want to rush things with Naruto-kun. Just because **I** love him, doesn't mean **he loves me**. I wish it were that simple, but it isn't…" Hinata looked at the floor and sighed sadly. "Besides, I don't think that I'm ready for something like that. I mean… I'm only sixteen."

Hiashi's face softened at her words, but still needed confirmation.

"And if he wanted to even if you didn't?"

Hinata shrugged. "I'd kick him in the testicles."

That earned a laugh from the both of them.

From the other room, the two of them heard somebody shouting, and from the sound of it, it was Naruto freaking out about something.

"What's going on in there?" Hinata asked

"Just Hanabi having some fun at his expense. Nothing serious." Hiashi smiled for a second before turning back to Hinata. "Hinata, I know that I'm extremely hard on you, and that I always will. But trust me when I say that it's for the best. The world is cruel, difficult, and will not relent. I just want you to be ready for the reality of the world."

Hinata looked to her father with a look of shock. She knew that her father couldn't be THAT cruel, but to hear him admit his reasoning, and show legitimate concern for her was a shock. She didn't know what to do, so she did the only thing she could think of. Give him a rib crushing hug.

"Oof!" was all Hiashi could say as his ribs began to collapse. "H-Hinata! Can't breathe!"

Hinata let go of him and blushed. "Sorry father."

Smoothing his robes and trying to regain his composure, Hiashi looked again to his elder daughter. "Well it seems you've inherited your mother's strength. But I must say that even if you do prove to be able to take the throne back from Hanabi, I will always have to be hard on you."

Hinata thought she just had a victory, but a tie seemed to be the only option. Sighing, Hinata simply said "That's fine. I understand."

With that Lord Hiashi turned around and stepped out into the other room, while Hinata waited for her father to have a "chat" with Naruto.

**AAANNNDDD… done! That's it for this chapter! Again guys thanks for reading, hoping you guys are liking my little fluff story. And I have to do another shameless plug for myself. (sorry!) But if you like Let's Plays, please click the link. MORE CHAPTERS WILL COME :D user/SirJamtrousers?feature=watch **


	10. The Date: Part III Fear

**Hey guys! We're soooo close to the end aren't we? Crazy to think that less than half a year ago I was just some nobody without a care in the world, now? I'm a world famous author with over ten-thousand views of my story! From the U.S. to the U.K. to Italy, to that one guy from Antigua and Barbuda… Thanks guys, it means a lot to me that you find this interesting and I promise that I'll keep writing some kind of fan-fic for you guys to read. Jamtrousers out and story in!**

Hinata stood there in the hallway as her sister strode in. Hinata couldn't help but notice the remnants of a trademark Hyuga blush on her face. It seems that Hinata wasn't the only Hyuga girl with a crush on the Yellow-haired Clown of Konoha.

With a small grin on her face Hinata asked her younger sister "So what do you think of Naruto Imouto-chan?"

Hanabi looked up to her sister and tried to cover her blush with her hair as she spoke. "I think he's a nincompoop with very little formal education and an odd sense of humor."

Hinata raised an eyebrow at her "Aaaaannnd….?"

Hanabi's face burned even brighter "And I think he's got a gorgeous body, beautiful eyes, and infectious laughter…" Hanabi had to run away as quick as she could while her blush began to creep up the back of her neck.

Hinata chuckled at the sight of an embarrassed Hanabi and looked back to the door. She thought the idea of Hanabi trying to steal Naruto from her was rather funny. But then again… What if Naruto did dump her for somebody else? Would he do that? No he wouldn't he's too nice, too pure…

"Who am I kidding?" Hinata said to herself "Naruto could have any girl if he really wanted…"

She could see it now. Her and Naruto on a lovely date and her looking at him with a dazed feeling of love in her eyes, then some trashy girl in a skimpy outfit just walks by and Naruto's out there like a dog chasing after his tail.

It didn't even have to be someone trashy; it could be Sakura, Ino, even Hanabi. They were all perfect, while she was just the pale kid who can't even string together a continuous sentence.

_The only reason he's probably even on this date with me is because of father threatening him to or else he'd kill him or something. Why would someone be with me other than because they're ordered to or because they're using me for something._

Another horrid thought passed through her head. Did Naruto just want to have sex with Hinata and be on to the next one? After all, he had even admitted he dreamed of having sex with her earlier and now they were going to some big fancy date. He'd spike her drink with sake and get her tipsy. Then she'd just lose all her inhibitions and let him violate her like some common whore. Just as her father feared. Then when Naruto had his fill of filling her, he'd toss her to the curb and be on to the next whore.

_The worst part about you is that you'd let him do that too. You want him so badly all he'd have to do is point in your direction and your pants would be off. The fact that you even want someone that way at such a young age is disgusting._

Hinata began to tear up as she continued to mentally beat herself to the ground. She knew that the fact that Naruto wanted to go out on a date with her was too good to be true.

_But just because you aren't worthy of him, and you'll just be used like the whore you are doesn't mean that you won't at least have some fun now will it? Just accept the facts and enjoy the ride while it lasts! _

"I really f***ing hate myself sometimes" Hinata muttered to herself.

**MEANWHILE WITH LORD HIASHI AND NARUTO**

Lord Hiashi stood there with a grim look on his face, while Naruto stood there in horror at what he'd just heard. Hiashi couldn't help but feel a smug sense of fatherly satisfaction at the fact that he was able to successfully intimidate his daughter's date for the evening.

"Now Naruto-san, do you understand that I have no intention of doing any worse than what I said, and will most likely do ten times worse to you in the case of your violation of my daughter."

Naruto was trying to keep his legs straight and upright even though they felt like absolute jelly. Naruto was intimidated by the idea of Hiashi torturing him for violating his daughter. That was understandable. But the fact that he was so precise and detailed in the slow and painful torture in so many different and anatomically specific ways was what was intimidating. Naruto wasn't even sure testicles could be pulled that far…

"I- I understand Lord Hiashi," Naruto said with a slight quiver "and trust me when I say that I don't have any plans on as you say 'inappropriately physically imposing myself upon your daughter', I don't think I could do that to her."

Hiashi saw the opportunity and pounced. "So you find my daughter unattractive?"

Naruto began to panic slightly "No! That's not what I said! She's very beautiful!"

"Ah, so you look at her like a piece of meat…"

"I never said that either!" Naruto shouted "I find her very attractive, but I don't want to do something like that to her."

"I find that to be extremely doubtful." Hiashi said as he used his Byakugan to induct a search on Naruto to see if he was entirely truthful. What he found gave him a look of concern. "You are trying to hide something from me Naruto-san, and don't deny it. You will tell me, or I will start my demonstration of how truthful I can be."

Naruto's back stiffened at that. He REALLY didn't want to tell Hiashi what was on his mind, but he didn't seem to have a choice. Taking a deep breath, Naruto began to explain.

"Hiashi-san, the truth is… I don't know. I've known Hinata for a really long time. And even though we never had many classes or missions with her, it's always been really easy to just talk to her and be myself. It's like, I don't really know if she actually likes me, or if I like her that way either. I don't know if I want to take this kind of step and possibly damage the relationship we have with each other to try and catch something that isn't there. I care too much about her to be with her now, and hurt her later…"

Hiashi remained stoic on the outside, although on the inside Hiashi's inner self was pounding his chest at the valor and gentleman approach that Naruto was taking. Not only did he not want to hurt his daughter, but he might not even want to date her!

Hiashi looked into Naruto's eyes and said "Naruto-san, I want you to know that I find your words truthful and with merit. But I still must remain skeptical of you as a man to date my daughter. I will allow you two to go on your date, but I will still have my methods of torture in mind for you if I find out my daughter is mistreated."

Naruto felt no fear from those words, because any self-respecting father would make sure to maintain an aura of authority over his daughters' dates.

"Thank you. I hope that we can have a lovely evening and not have to worry about any testicular torture."

Hiashi allowed a single smirk "As do I… Hinata! You may enter now."

Hinata strode in with a look of despair on her, and made no eye contact with her father.

A look of concern was on Hiashi and Naruto's faces as Hinata grabbed Naruto's shoulder and muttered "Let's go…"

**DUN DUN DUUUUNNNNNN! Will Hinata feel better? Will Naruto discover his true feelings? Will I ever be able to deliver new chapters at a respectful time period? Find out in the next chapter!**


	11. The Date Part IV: Revelations

**Hey guys! This is it. The last chapter! Thank you guys sooooooooo much for reading this story! The reviews you guys have given me mean more than you'll ever know. It's nice to know that there are people out there who think I'm a decent writer. **XD

** I promise to write other stuff after I'm done with this. Quick note: When Hinata is thinking to herself, it'll be like **_this. _**When her gloomy side is thinking, it's like _this. _Thank you all so much again and I hope you were able to enjoy a fluffy little story by me. **J** Anywho, this is a long chapter. All the other chapters were preparation, and I figured that the last chapter might as well just be the whole damned thing. Now get a readin'! *whip crack***

The young couple was walking a few blocks away from the Hyuga compound along one of the less populated streets. Only a few of the street lights were actually on as they walked towards the festival, which could be seen along the end of the street in the form of an orange-red horizon.

Naruto walked slightly behind Hinata while she held onto his hand. He didn't quite know what was going on wither her. When he'd first gotten there, her family made it sound like she was extremely excited to be going on the date, (he sure knew he was) but once he actually got to see her now, she seemed down right depressed…

_Oh Kami, Fox what now? What'd I do?_

**I have no idea kid. I'm not too good at figuring out girls…**

_But you're thousands of years old! HELP ME!_

**I'm still a male. And she is still a female…**

_Thanks…_

Snapping back to reality Naruto looked again to Hinata who still seemed to be in a rather gloomy state. Her quiet radiance was gone and replaced with a quiet diminished feeling. Her head was hung low, she was quiet, and she seemed extremely nervous. She didn't seem a thing like the real Hinata…

_What's with her? This isn't like Hinata at all!_

**…You sure about that kid?...**

_You know what I mean! She didn't seem as downright depressed as she does right now! I mean look at her! She's all gloomy and full of sadness! It's like all of the darkness in her hair has spread to her emotions and now she's all blue and stuff._

**Would she be more purple than anything then?**

_…Shut up…_

Naruto was getting very worried about Hinata, the last thing he wanted to do was make Hinata sad. Especially on the first date. (Or any date for that matter.) He was really excited for the festival and getting to spend it with an awesome person like Hinata. But if he'd done something to screw it up already, then he really needed to get lost…

**Oh great, now you're getting depressed.**

_…_

**Kid?**

_…_

"Hey… Hinata-chan?" Naruto said quietly as he looked down

Slowly Hinata turned her head and looked at Naruto solemnly. "Yes, Naruto-kun?"

"If… If you don't want to go out on this date with me I understand. I know it can be a drag to feel pressured into something that you don't want. Not to mention that the only reason you probably came here is because you felt guilty from me asking you out…"

Naruto sighed and turned around to walk away from Hinata. Naruto's head hung low as he put his hands in his suit pants pockets and slowly walked away.

While she saw this, Hinata's brain went into a state of shock.

_Oh Kami! He thinks I'm trying to get away from him by acting gloomy! What do I do?_

**_Listen you! Just because he still wants to use you like a rag doesn't mean we shouldn't at least be able to delude ourselves with some kind of romance! Go get him!_**

Naruto was about a block away from where Hinata had been and was about to turn a corner. While walking The Fox began to shout at him.

**What are you doing kid!? Do you have any idea how monumental of a mistake this is? You're walking out on a golden opportunity right here!**

_Fox, stop thinking with your dick and go suck it for all I care. I'm not going to make a friend of mine miserable by forcing her to go out on a date with me and make her feel awkward._

**I'm not thinking with my dick, you dick! I mean this could be a golden opportunity to make a connection with somebody who could make a positive impact in your life beyond just the friendship barrier for once!**

_Nice try Fox, but I'm still not believing you…_

Naruto continued to walk after he had turned the corner until he heard a shout followed by clacking heels.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata was running as fast as she possibly could in her heels. The heels weren't extremely long but they still added an inch or two to her height which increased the difficulty of running. "Wait!"

Naruto stood there in shock as Hinata grabbed at his arm and gave him a pleading look.

"Hinata-chan? What's the matter?"

*SMACK!* Hinata had reared back and slapped Naruto across the face.

"That's for trying to leave me before the date even started." Hinata said "I didn't want you to leave Naruto-kun! I've… just had a lot on my mind lately."

Rubbing his face slightly, Naruto eased up. "So, you don't want me to leave right?"

Sighing Hinata smiled and merely nodded her head.

Naruto instantly brightened up. "Alright! Well, shall we continue our stroll towards the Festival of Wonders?" Naruto imitated The Waiter's voice as he bowed to Hinata.

Laughing slightly Hinata took Naruto's hand and they walked back to the festival.

As they walked, Naruto was able to actually focus on how Hinata was dressed instead of how depressed she was. To sum it all up, she was drop-dead gorgeous. She was wearing a long flowing dress that was white lightly tinged with lavender like her eyes. He also noticed that there were faint flower prints on the dress as well. In fact, the flowers on the dress were rather familiar to him.

"Ambrosia…" Naruto whispered

Hinata noticed what Naruto said and nodded her head. "Mhm. I got the dress made yesterday by the old lady from the clothing store."

Naruto turned and looked at Hinata. "You mean Anko-sama actually made a dress for you?"

"Hm? Oh no!" Hinata had to think of something quick "Anko-sama was simply taking over the business for the old lady for some dango in return. The actual old lady who owns the store actually made me this dress."

Naruto stared at her for a moment with a blank expression. Hinata couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking, but relaxed when he began to grin. "Well that makes sense!"

They continued to chat on their way to the festival. It was nice getting to just put aside the stresses of being a ninja if only for a few hours. Hinata always knew that Naruto was goofy, but she didn't realize that he had the capacity to be witty at times as well.

And Naruto knew that Hinata was intelligent and at times reserved, but he had no idea she actually knew how to laugh like a regular person and be well… normal.

They were very close to the festival and could smell the food being cooked until something very strange happened. In the blink of an eye, Hinata's teammate Shino was in front of the couple.

"Hey there… buddy." Naruto said a little nervously

"Greetings Naruto-san." Shino said in a deadpan voice "Do you see what I did there? I remembered my friend's name, rather easy don't you think?"

Naruto was terrified of Shino, mostly because of the bugs, but also because of how creepy he is about remembering names. Naruto knew his name he really did! Shino just creeped him out so much he'd forget it for all of five seconds.

"Oh come on Shino-kun!" said a voice behind Shino "Don't be so glum!"

"…I don't think having a friend forget your name is reason to be joyous…" Shino continued in his expressionless voice. Stepping beside Shino stood a thin girl with a pretty face and small nose framed by long black hair in a blue headband and an infectious looking smile.

"Nice to meet you!" The girl said in her chipper voice. Hinata noticed that she was in a bright blue kimono and showed a toothy smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Hinata, I'm a teammate of Shino's."

The girl looked over to Shino and grinned. "Ahhhh, so this is the great Hinata that Shino has been going on about."

Hinata's head quirked a bit at that comment and looked at the girl curiously. "What do you mean by that?"

_He's probably been complaining to this girl about how I'm such a terrible teammate and always get in the way._

There was a long silence as the girl looked to Shino like she was trying to remember what he had told her about Hinata.

"Well… He said you're really pretty…" Naruto noticed Shino's face get a little pink "A great teammate…" his face got pinker "a little shy but very motherly…" Shino's face looked like a petunia in bloom at this point "And that she had a very cute butt-I mean a… a very cute face! Yeah a cute face!" The girl scratched the back of her head and smiled. She knew she just about made things awkward for everybody.

Shino gave a sigh of relief under his breath. "Well now that you've gotten to know her for a minute, I suppose I should introduce her. Naruto-san, Hinata-chan, this is Hanaye-chan. She's my partner for the festival…" Hinata could barely hear Shino mumble the last part.

"Sooo… She's your girlfriend?" Naruto inquired with a mischievous grin.

Shino's eyes nearly bugged out (**pardon the pun**) at the statement. "Well then. I don't think that… To imply that from…" Shino could barely get out what he wanted to say, while Hanaye simply smiled.

"You could say that! I'm a visitor from the Land of Forests." Hanaye's expression changed when she looked Naruto in the face. "… Come to think of it, you seem pretty familiar… Did you ever visit our village?"

Naruto had to ponder for a second, but he remembered why he was so familiar to her. "Oh yeah! Me and my group stopped the Shinobazu when we were there! How is the village now?"

Hanaye smiled. "A lot better! I came to the Village Hidden in the Leaf to see what it was like. And I met this handsome bugger when I was looking at some pesticides for my plants."

Naruto looked over to Shino. "Why would you be looking at pesticides?" Naruto asked in a bemused voice.

"Oh, he was smashing all of the bottles in a blind fury while the storekeeper was looking the other way." Hanaye laughed "I promised him that I'd keep his actions a secret if he helped me keep my plants insect free."

"And then it blossomed into a relationship?" Hinata asked

"Well… I mean if that's what you call friends with benefi…" Hanaye stopped dead in her tracks as Shino began to panic "Yeah!" Hanaye shouted "A relationship! Isn't that right sweetie?" Hanaye brought Shino back to reality with a smack on his hindquarters.

Shino had to cough to regain his composure. "Yes, *cough* that's right! We're a very good couple. We enjoy each other's company and have inter… interpersonal moments and conversations of great emotional meaning."

There was then a great silence between everybody until Hanaye broke the silence.

"Well! I suppose we should get to the festival now before things get awkward. See you guys around!"

And with that Hanaye grabbed Shino's hand and ran him towards the festival; leaving a confused Naruto and Hinata standing alone.

Naruto began to scratch his head and grin. He found that all very amusing. "Well then, guess ol' Shino-san's got some game now doesn't he? Never thought he'd actually end up dating somebody. I always thought that his family just laid eggs or something to reproduce…"

Hinata thought that was a little mean, but nonetheless she giggled a bit at the comment.

_I'm so glad that Shino-kun found somebody he's happy with._

_Too bad you'll never know that feeling…_

Ignoring the last thought, Hinata took Naruto's hand and they continued their walk to the festival. Even though she had butterflies in her stomach, she was very excited to be going to the festival with Naruto. She had a feeling that tonight would be memorable. No matter what.

_I hope Hinata-chan has a good night tonight. She's been really down tonight, so I'll have to make sure she has a great time!_

"Sooo Hinata-chan," Naruto said in what he was hoping to be a cool voice "Go to these festivals often?"

"Oh, well…" Hinata got a little nervous now that it was just the two of them having small talk. "I had gone to them when I was younger, but I stopped going to them about five years ago."

"Why's that?" Naruto asked

"I couldn't go because I had to train even harder because I was finally in the academy. I didn't want to fall even further behind than I already was…"

Naruto got concerned from that comment. "But… you were third in the class behind Sakura-chan and Ino-san. And even then you were close behind. Not to mention Ino hasn't exactly progressed much since then…"

Hinata didn't seem affected by Naruto's attempts to help her.

"And yet I regressed since then. I'm the weakest in my group. I can't stand up to anybody. You probably think I'm just some frail little freak who can't even maintain a simple conversation." Hinata's eyes narrowed slightly as she looked down. Realizing how much of a downer she was right now, she smiled slightly and asked Naruto "How about you?"

Naruto laughed slightly and looked up. "I did when I was a lot younger. But when drunks start to throw a bottle of sake at you or try to run you out of town when there's a big enough group of people…" Naruto gave a bitter and ironic laugh, "You just learn to avoid these kind of things."

Hinata was frightened from the sound of that. "Then why are you going now?"

Naruto looked and smiled candidly to her. "Because I get to go to the festival with you. I know the two of us will have a great time." Naruto thought that the emphasis showed just how much he cared and wanted the two of them to have fun.

To Hinata it just sounded like the two of them were going to go and commit the same kind of actions that Shino and Hanaye may or may not have been doing.

**_See? You're just going to get used by him. He just told you right to your face. Is there any doubt now?_**

_…_

**_I thought so…_**

_Whatever. I don't care at this point. We'll have a great time and I'll be able to feel like he loves me even if it's just for one night and I end up alone and naked at the end. I'll take what I can get._

The two of them made it to the entrance of the festival and were astounded. It was by the front gate of the village, and although the only structural difference was that a few shabby little stands had been put up, it was still beautiful. There were lanterns littered across the lines of the village casting a warm orange glow, the occasional firework would go off and light up the night sky, family crests were adorned over their booths and everybody seemed to be in good spirits.

Naruto saw Ichiraku's Ramen stand and realized just how hungry he was.

Really hungry.

_Awww man! I'm really hungry!_

Ironically, Hinata also saw the stand and instinctually her stomach began to growl. Naruto looked at her and they both had a silent conversation and walked towards the shop.

Once they got in they were greeted by a jovial as usual Teuchi.

"Naruto-san! How are tonight? Nice to see that you've brought some company with you. Beautiful company I might add." Teuchi ended his speech with a wink and without another word he went to the back to make two bowls of ramen.

Hinata sat down on one of the stools at the front while Naruto left her for a moment.

"Don't worry! I'll be right back!" Naruto was gone and Hinata sat by herself.

_Great now I'm all alone already._

**_Did you expect anything else?..._**

Hinata sat there while Teuchi came back with two steaming bowls of ramen.

"Two bowls ready for the best customer and the lovely…" Teuchi looked to Hinata with a confused expression. "Excuse me, but where did Naruto-san go?"

A voice from behind the curtain shouted "I'm back!" Naruto burst through the curtain holding two tickets. Putting an arm around Hinata, Naruto explained "Sorry about that. I had to go and get us some tickets for some of the games around here. No point in going to a festival without playing the festival games right?

Hinata could feel her body temperature rising as she felt Naruto's strong arms press against her shoulders. The mixture of the smell of him and ramen made for an… intoxicating aroma. What she really wanted to put her lips to were his soft sweet lips. Or maybe his rippled pecs… or washboard abs…

**_OOHHH… You want him to take advantage of you don't you? Further proof of what you keep telling yourself._**

Hinata quickly grabbed a napkin and dabbed her nose to preemptively stop the bleeding. Teuchi noticed it and simply smiled and walked back to make more ramen. Naruto grabbed his bowl and started slurping it down while Hinata sipped her ramen with a quiet dignity. She had forgotten just how good of a bowl of ramen was made by Teuchi.

*burp*

Letting out the tiniest of belches Hinata surprised herself. She couldn't believe she had just belched and looked to Naruto with a look of horror on her face.

"I-I…" She couldn't even think of what to say. "I'm sorry." Was all she could squeak out.

Naruto looked at her with a look of disbelief on his face. Then Naruto started laughing uncontrollably. He found it hilarious.

"Hahahahaa! Oh wow Hinata-chan! That was… That was…" Naruto could only smile and snicker. "Well, shall we go and play a game?" Naruto did really mean that as a question and grabbed her hand and they walked out.

Hinata was still embarrassed but was happy to see that Naruto wasn't disgusted by her actions. They walked by a few of the games that had complicated rules or just seemed unfair. There were long lines for most of them anyways. They didn't think they were going to find anything worth playing until they heard an all too familiar voice.

"Step right up ladees and jentalmen! Come and feesh one of zese lovely feeshes out of ze water. It only cost a ticket to try! Oh come now! Play and win a prize for your special someone!" It was the waiter from the restaurant. Looking over to Naruto and Hinata the waiter smiled widely "Ah! Ze two birds of amore from earlier! What a lovely revelation! Come! I shall geeve the blond boy a free try!"

Without a moment for Hinata or Naruto to refute, The Waiter took them both by the arm and dragged them to his game. It was a koi pond with paper lined paddles next to it.

"Eet is simple! Take ze paddle, catch a feesh, win ze lovely prizes!" The Waiter saw the sneaky grin on Naruto's face and said "But none of your silly how do you say… chalk-ra tricks with me."

Hinata smiled as Naruto waived The Waiter off and tried to catch the fish. Hinata knew this game was the most difficult of all the games at the carnival, but she knew Naruto would play this game no matter what. After his first attempt failed, Naruto handed over a ticket and tried again. And failed. Trying not to get angry in front of Hinata, Naruto took a deep breath and tried to catch the fish, and drag it up along the edge. Right before the fish was all of the way out of the water, it jumped up and flopped back into the water.

"ARGH! Son of a b…" Naruto was about to swear but remembered that he was on a date with a lady. A very pretty lady who was very nice and had an extremely dangerous father…

Mumbling about unfair waiters, Naruto tried again while Hinata stood behind him and thought while she had the chance.

**_He's probably going to give you the prize in an attempt to buy you out so he can use you for the night and he gets to think he gave you something in return. _**

_That's not true! He's just trying to have fun at the carnival!_

**_We both know that's a lie. He's got ulterior motives and you know it! Now quit trying to make this out to be some stupid romance story and get over yourself._**

Hinata noticed that The Waiter had a bottle of sake next to him. He probably had some rather strong drink in it considering his profession and his very… expressive personality. While Naruto was yelling at the fish and The Waiter was trying to console him, Hinata took the opportunity to take the bottle of sake and pour the drink into a bottle from nearby. As Naruto continued to struggle with the game, Hinata took a long swig of her bottle of "water."It burned down her throat and she struggled not to gag on it. As it burnt its way down her stomach, Hinata stood and watched Naruto. She noticed that when The Waiter wasn't looking Naruto had used chakra to strengthen his net just enough to catch the fish.

"Haha! Take that! I got the stupid fish! And it only took me…" Naruto began to count the amount of broken nets that had piled up "Twelve tries!? Awww man! That's all of the tickets!" Naruto couldn't believe how stupid he had just been with the tickets.

**_Ya know kid, there's stupid… and then there's you._**

_… I know…_

**_You alright kid?_**

_ARGH! Why do I have to always do the dumbest things at the worst possible time!? What the hell is wrong with me!?_

While Naruto was giving himself a mental beatdown, Hinata was having her own mental conversation of the malevolent kind.

**_Good job you little skank! Show off yourself to him while training, try and show dominance over other females that are more attractive, and even get drunk on the first date! You're a real class act you know that?_**

_It's not like that! I-I just wanted to loosen up a bit before the night is over!_

**_And why is that? Because you just want to have an excuse for letting him get in your pants?_**

_No!_

**_Then why did you do it?_**

_To shut you the FUCK up!_

**_Classy…_**

_Shut up! I'm done with these stupid inner conversations! You can go back to the recesses of my mind for the rest of the night! I don't care if I have to get alcohol poisoning, I'm going to shut you up, numb my emotional problems and have a nice night!_

_…_

Hinata took another swig of her drink and shuttered. Meanwhile Naruto snapped back to reality and gratefully took the prize from The Waiter for his efforts. It was a stuffed kitten with violet fur and white eyes.

"Custom make them yourself?" Naruto asked with a voice of slight disbelief.

"I could be." The Waiter said "Or maybe it waz ze destiny for our paths to have crossed on ze most beautiful of nights!"

Naruto just sighed and turned to Hinata.

"So do you want the good news or the bad news Hinata-chan?"

Hinata's vision was fogging up, and her brain was working a tick slower. "What do you mean Naruto-kun? Did I do something wrong?"

"You? No! I just um… Well…"

Hinata looked confused and pressed on. "Come on Naruto-kun! Tell me!" Hinata grabbed Naruto by the arms and shook him a little.

"I uh… I spent all of the tickets on that stupid game." Naruto looked deeply ashamed of himself."

Hinata on the other hand got a sly (albeit drunken) look on her face. "Oh that's alright Naruto-kun! We can just go up the Hokage monuments and have some alone time while we watch the fireworks."

"Alone time?" Naruto had a quizzical look on his face "Like us talking and stuff?"

"Oh sure!"

Hinata said that a little too loudly, but Naruto was happy with the answer nonetheless. He was just glad that he hadn't already ruined the night by doing something monumentally stupid. (Again) Tucking the kitten away Naruto led the way. As they were walking through the crowds Naruto looked for someplace to sit and watch the fireworks. Hinata on the other hand was walking right behind Naruto and staring at his behind. She would be lying if she said that she never so much as sneaked a peek at his behind, but she never outright stared at it the way she was now.

She couldn't help it though, he just…

"Has a really nice butt." Hinata mumbled loudly.

Naruto turned around and perked his ears. "What'd you say Hinata?"

"Hm? Oh, you've got a really cute butt." Hinata giggled while Naruto's face pinkened a bit.

Naruto made his way to the end of the festival and near one of the hills near the monuments. As they walked up the stairs to the top of the monuments, Hinata tried to keep her thoughts coherent, but was struggling. It felt like her head was beginning to pass through a fog. She kept trying to piece together some kind of a plan for the rest of the night. If truth be told, the sake was helping loosen Hinata up to the idea of sex with Naruto. She'd still had some reservations about it because she still was a teenager and didn't want something so important to be just thrown away. But she believed that now she would be able to go through with it and just accept her fate.

They made their way up and Naruto reached it first. Turning around he figured he'd do the gentlemanly thing to do and offered his hand to Hinata to take and help her up. Hinata grasped his hand and felt another whirlwind of emotion from the simplest of gestures. Her soft ivory skinned hands contrasted so much with his calloused tanned hands. She could just feel the sincerity from the gesture. It was a truly powerful feeling she hadn't felt before. Her head was already so cloudy, that she had trouble standing straight, that she almost fell over from the combined sensory/emotional overload. Trying to walk herself up as ladylike as possible, she made it up and was right next to Naruto. They were closer than they had been all night and had forgotten to stop holding hands. Truth be told, neither wanted to let go…

"Well," Naruto said with a lump in his throat "I guess this is as good as any spot to watch the fireworks."

Hinata had to catch her breath before she spoke in a slurred manner. "Y-Yeah… The view sure is… n-nice isn't it?"

Naruto could only stare at her until he noticed something peculiar.

*sniff* "Hinata, you smell a little different…" Naruto said

Hinata's face got a puzzled look and she sniffed too. "Aww crap." Hinata moaned with a bit of a drunken lisp "Did I forget ta put on deodorant or somethin'?"

Naruto felt he was about to enter dangerous territory. "No! It's just… You smell a bit like Tsunade obaa-chan… It's kind of like… like…" As Naruto pondered, Hinata took another swig. "Sake!" Naruto shouted. "You smell like you've been drinking sake!"

Hinata looked at Naruto and gave a childish giggle. "I guess you've found me out." Hinata hiccupped and giggled again. "I got it from The Waiter when he wasn't lookin'."

Hinata was about to take a final drink, but Naruto grabbed it and threw it away.

"Hey! What'd ja do that for…?" Hinata said with a slur

Naruto couldn't believe his eyes. Hinata Hyuga the heir to the Hyuga thrown, as close to a princess as you can get, was drinking at a festival. She was drinking alcohol and acting like it was no big deal!

"What'd I do that for!?" Naruto shouted "Hinata-chan! You can't do that, not only are you a princess, you're underage!"

Hinata just crossed her arms and pouted. "Like you care." She mumbled sadly.

Naruto was getting worried and confused. "What do you mean by that?"

"Like you cared." Hinata said pointedly "You were probably just going to do what every other boy in this village probably wants to do with me. Just use me for the night, wake up and toss me like trash and go brag to your friends."

"Hinata-chan…" Naruto was dumbfounded

"Oh save it! It might not have happened yet, but I knew it would eventually." Hinata's words were no longer slurred, but loud and clear. "That's all I've ever been to everybody! Just some trophy to use for their goals. Father just wanted to use me to make the family strong, Neji used me to usurp the family… Everybody in the academy used me for a measuring stick to compare how much they've improved, while I've probably gotten worse…" Hinata's eyes began to tear up as she spoke. Each word hurt more than the last, but it was like she couldn't stop it now. "And then there's you… What am I to you Uzumaki Naruto? Just the quiet girl who you took on a pity date? The girl whose virginity you took on a whim because you knew it'd be too easy knowing how she felt?" Hinata dared not go any further as she stared at Naruto in a silent demand of an answer.

Naruto was trying to come up with some kind of answer. Something that could make more sense than what Hinata was shouting. He didn't understand how she could seriously think that he'd ever do something like that to her.

"Hinata-chan… Please, I don't… I wouldn't…" Naruto tried.

"Go." Hinata mumbled "Just… Just get out of here! Even if that's not why you wanted to go out with me, I've probably ruined this date so much you may as well just c-cut your losses and just g-go back to trying to get Sakura to love you." Hinata wept as she turned away from Naruto.

"Hinata…" Naruto tried

"J-Just go!" Hinata shouted. She heard Naruto slowly walk away, and she dropped to her knees and cried. She just let all of the emotion that had been building for who knows how long empty out as she cried. It felt as if her whole body was turning inside out as she could only feel the negative flow throughout her and pool out onto the ground in the form of her tears. "Oh Naruto-kun." Hinata whispered as her tears fell, "If only you knew how I truly felt about you. If only you knew that I… That I…" Hinata couldn't say it. It was like there was something stopping her. It was just too painful.

Clutching her chest with her hands over her heart Hinata whispered to herself "I love you." Hinata knelt there unsure of what to do. She knew that she couldn't just go looking for Naruto, and in her mental condition she'd be of even less use to try and find him amongst all of the people in the crowds. So she did the only thing she felt she could physically do. She wept. She did not wail, she didn't sob. She silently wept as if to wash herself of the shame.

As she cried, Hinata heard the most peculiar of sounds. It sounded like someone was walking behind her. She was too emotionally wrecked to even try her Byakugan so she merely stood up and spoke, quiet and sadly.

"I'm sorry if my crying was bothering you or something, but I'll just go now so you can enjoy the fireworks."

She was about to walk away when a hand grabbed her shoulder. It wasn't a rough jerking grab, but rather a gentle yet strong one desperate to keep her in her place.

"Please don't go." Came a voice. It was a voice Hinata was all too familiar with.

Hinata's eyes widened as she turned around. In front of her stood the man she loved.

"N-Naruto-kun." She breathed.

"Please don't cry Hinata-chan." Naruto spoke in a low voice. His words had a soothing and protecting power to it. "I'd never take advantage of you. Not in a million years. All I wanted to do was make the night special for you. I wanted you to be able to be treated right by a guy who really cares about you. I'm sorry if I made you nervous or think that I'd ever try to hurt you." Naruto took Hinata's hands and stared into her eyes as he spoke. "I told you before that I didn't know exactly how I felt about you, but I think I do now…"

Hinata trembled as she tried to speak. "N-Naruto, I-I..."

Before she could react, Naruto moved her closer to him, and kissed her lips. The kiss was everything Hinata imagined in her dream and more. Like the dream they had one another in their arms, with Naruto's around Hinata's waist, and hers around his neck. The kiss sent electricity throughout her body from her head to her toes. The feeling could only be described as indescribable. But unlike the dream, this was real. She felt safe in his arms and she kissed him back. Years of what she thought were to be unrequited love poured into the kiss.

To Naruto, it was a feeling of satisfaction. He finally did something he knew was the right thing to do. The fog his mind had put between Hinata and him was lifting. He no longer saw Hinata's fainting or stuttering as simple verbal and emotional problems. It was because of him that she did that. He could feel the emotion from her, and truth be told, the emotions were the same from him. For the first time in years, Naruto felt truly loved. And for the first time, he felt what love truly may be.

As they broke apart, Naruto looked into Hinata's eyes. He spoke with trepidation "Hinata-chan… I don't know how all to say it. I don't really know if I do know what love is, but what I feel for you is one of the most powerful feelings I've ever felt in my entire life."

Hinata smiled as a single, final tear flowed down her cheek. She felt like amazing. Like she could fly through the air and soar with eagles. Right before she was about to speak there was a large booming noise nearby. Turning to the source of the sounds, Hinata saw flashes of brilliant lights.

"Fireworks." Was all Hinata could say as she smiled.

Naruto had a smile on his face as he looked to the fireworks and laughed. "How's that for a first kiss? Talk about fireworks!" The two of them laughed at his joke and stayed to watch the fireworks. They watched the fireworks and talked and held hands and kissed some more as they enjoyed the rest of their date.

The next day Hinata awoke to a minor headache from the sake, but thankfully had a perfect recollection of the previous night. As she got out of bed she noticed that there was a purple plush kitten on the dresser in her room. It had a note attached to it. It read:

_Dear Hinata,_

_I don't know what the future holds, and I don't know what love is. But what I do know is that you make every moment worth living. I'm sorry that it took me so long to see you as the beauty that you are, but I hope that I can make up for lost time with you soon. Here's looking at the first day of the rest of our lives._

_Your BOYFRIEND,_

_ Uzumaki Naruto._

_P.S. Dattebayo!_

Smiling Hinata put the kitten on her bed and began the first of many great days.

THE END

**_That's it! I'm done! It took me a solid 20 hours of writing to get this chapter written the way it should be. This has been a great journey guys. This challenged me to write with about a very serious thing, but still keep a light heart. I've loved writing this story, and I look forward to the next one. Until next time! Jamtrousers OUT!_**


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